Left Behind
by entwined-in-a-web
Summary: Natalie and Wendla are distanly related. But what happens when Wendla finds herself pregnant with Melchior's child, and is sent to live with her family in America? Terrible summary...sorry...REVIEW PLEASE!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've been working on this for months! I've finally finished the first chapter! So…It's an N2N/SA crossover! The first of its kind! It's Post-N2N and during SA.**

**AU since Wendla and baby live! So…id give this a T+ rating to begin with…um…You know how HenNat can be…lol**

**I am thinking of bringing Melchi into the story later too! It'll be so cute to see his reaction to America…with his radical-ness!**

**Lol…REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own N2N nor do I own Spring Awakening! Or else I'd be with Henry and Moritz wouldn't be DEAD!**

The bell rang again in the hallways, telling the students that the weekend was finally here…If only Natalie cold enjoy it. She slowly walked over to her locker, purposely got her combination wrong and took her good old time gathering her things.

But she was soon interrupted by a confused-sounding voice from behind her, "Um…what are you doing?"

She turned around only to find Henry standing next to her, giving her a confused smirk.

"I'm trying to get my stuff…"

"Really? It takes you this long?"

She rolled her eyes and scoffed at him. "No. I don't wanna go home…"

"Why?"

She finally finished putting her books into her bag as she shut her locker angrily. "I have this weird distant relative visiting from like Germany or something…"

"I didn't know you were German…"

"Neither did I…"

He just threw her a devious smirk and told her, "Come over my place then…we'll be all alone…" he kissed her right on the lips, passionately.

"Mmmm…I'd like that…" she quietly mumbled between the kiss. She let his arms surround her as she nudged closer to him.

"Well, why are we doing it here when we could be alone already?"

She rolled her eyes and broke away from him as they walked out the door to his car. Her dad wouldn't mind if she was a little late…would he?

* * *

Wendla patiently waited for her plane to land in Seattle. It had been the very first time she'd ever flown alone. Actually, it was her first time flying period. She'd never been outside of Germany before and she was surprised that her mama let her fly alone.

She remembered her saying that she would be staying with some family in America for a little while. Wendla knew that it wasn't just a quick visit. She would be there for months. The plane began to shake as it descended. Frightened, Wendla placed her hand on her stomach, feeling the comforting movement of her child inside of her.

She had been so grateful that her mama had allowed her to have her child. Melchior's child…That's why she came to America. To cover it up and hide it. Wendla didn't mind though. She was excited to meet this new family and happy to keep her child.

The plane had finally landed and Wendla was eager to get her luggage and go. She got to the gate, but what she saw was extremely overwhelming. People everywhere. Thousands. _Millions._ America wasn't like Germany at all. Everything was so big here. Wendla felt like a tiny ant compared to the hugeness of the country.

She waited for the other passengers from her flight to leave, not knowing who she was going with. But as everyone else cleared the place, she saw only a middle-age man standing there, his hands in his pockets, looking around curiously.

Cautiously, she walked up to him and asked, "Excuse me? Are you waiting for someone?"

He nodded and looked at his watch. "Yeah…Wendla Bergman."

She smiled and quickly informed him, "_I'm_ Wendla Bergman."

He smiled as well, holding his hand out to her. "Dan Goodman."

"Nice to meet you!" She smiled grabbing his hand and shaking it. She was surprised. He was being so nice to her, even though her mama said she was a disappointment. He didn't even seem to notice that she was carrying a child.

"Well, we should get going. My daughter's at home by herself. She's around your age, actually."

"Really? That sounds wonderful, Herr Goodman."

He chuckled a little and advised her, "You don't have to do that."

"But it's only respectful. My mama would be furious if I didn't."

"Just call me Dan."

Cautiously she looked around, as if her mama was right behind her. "Thank you…Dan…"

He quickly led her out to his car, where she threw her luggage into the trunk. She quickly got into the passenger's seat and soaked in the world around her now. The buildings in Germany were nothing compared to the ones in downtown Seattle.

"So, did you have a nice flight?" Dan asked, breaking the silence between them.

"Oh, yes. It was nice." she responded quickly, quickly going back to looking at this beautiful city.

"And everything went ok? You know, with the baby?"

She sort of froze in her seat and turned her head away from her window, looking down at her feet. She felt so ashamed of herself now. And she didn't know why.

"Y-Yes…"

"Good…Just gotta make sure you're ok."

She looked up from her feet immediately. He was ok with it? He thought it was good? She was surprised. Back home, if someone ever mentioned a sin such as that, they would be punished, they wouldn't be told that everything was ok. She shrugged a little and let it pass…Maybe she like America…

_Oh, Moritz,_ she thought to herself as the car pulled into a little driveway. _How I wish you could be here. America is exactly what you thought it would be…._

The house was rather roomy. Big and tall. She liked it already. She grabbed her luggage from the trunk and followed Dan to the front of the house, where he was unlocking the door. He allowed her to walk in before him as he closed the door. She looked around to admire the house's beauty. It was huge, two floors and a full basement. She had never been in a house this huge before.

She quickly looked over at Dan, smiling happily, but he seemed anything _but_ happy.

"Nat, we're home!" He shouted up the stairs. But there was no response. "Natalie?" He kept shouting the name, trying to find this person. But they weren't here.

But Wendla was wondering…_Whoever this Natalie is, they're in huge trouble…_

* * *

Of course, Natalie wanted to be anywhere but home. She didn't care about this stupid cousin or her stupid distant family or anything else for that matter. All that occupied her mind right now was finding an escape…and not to mention, Henry.

She rolled her eyes mentally, wondering how she could nearly forgot the boy who was practically on top of her, running his hands along her body, kissing her so much that she was surprised they weren't conjoined at the mouth already. She loved it when they did this…she just seemed to forget everything and all she could think about was him.

She decided to be daring for once. She wrapped her arms around him and sort of pushed him off of her as she rolled them over so she was now on top of him. She pulled away from him to breathe for a second and she threw him an incredibly devious grin. He was a little unsure of what she was trying to do, but he let her…

She decided that she had enough of him touching her…She wanted to switch things up. So she began to sexily run her hands down his chest, across the rest of his body. He wasn't sure if he liked this or not…After all, she never go this into it before…

But he was utterly relieved as soon as her phone began to ring. She pulled away from him to look at the name. Dad. Rolling her eyes, she went back to him quickly.

But he broke the kiss again, asking her, "Aren't you gonna answer that?"

She shook her head. "I'll just tell him my phone died…" She went to push him back down again…

But he refused. "No, Nat…answer it."

She didn't want to give in to what he said. She pouted, kissing him again, "But, Henry…"

He finally just grabbed her phone and warned her, "Please stop…I'm not ready for _that_ yet…"

She angrily threw her hands to her hips, her jaw agape. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You're the one who told me to come over! You're the one who told me to!"

"I never told you to do anything! I didn't think we'd take it that far…"

"Far? Henry, that was _not_ far…I've been farther than _that_!"

"Oh, really? With who?"

She stopped everything she was doing and she stared him down. "That's none of your business…"

"Well, were we together?"

"What? Are you jealous or something?" He didn't say anything back. He just turned away from her. "And yes. We were both…super drunk…"

He still didn't say a word. She looked at his face. She could tell that he was hurt. And she didn't know what to do…They'd never fought like this before.

"I-I think I should go…" She admitted quietly.

He nodded and asked, "Do you want me to drive you?"

She shook her head, whispering, "No…I'll just walk…" She looked over at him pitifully. She felt bad about what she did. He couldn't even look at her. So without saying a word, she quickly got up and left him there, hoping that her dad wouldn't murder her when she got home.

* * *

Meanwhile, Wendla sat alone at the kitchen table, reading the day's newspaper, while Dan still waited up for this Natalie. It had been about an hour or two and they still weren't home. He seemed to give up and sit next to Wendla, watching her read the news.

"What's all this about oil spills and health care reforms?" She asked him curiously. They certainly had no worries of oil spills back in Germany.

"Current news. It's all kind of…insane."

"Your newspapers are so depressing…" she commented, looking at an article written about another murder trial. "Doesn't it frighten you?"

He shook his head and tried to smile. "No, not really. You learn to get used to it, I guess."

She nodded and went back to reading. It had just began to pour rain outside. She loved to watch the rain. It helped to calm her down. She smiled to herself and placed a hand on her stomach, which had already started to swell. She felt the baby kicking with excitement as the rain poured harder and the thunder crashed.

Everything seemed to calm down finally…that is, until the front door swung open. Both Wendla and Dan shot their heads around to see who had come in. It was a girl, probably around Wendla's age. She was soaked from the rain and she wore an angry expression that matched the fury in her eyes.

Dan's face was almost as angry as the girl's. He got up from the table and walked towards her. "Natalie Olivia Goodman, where the hell were you?"

_So this is Natalie,_ Wendla thought as she examined the girl some more. She wore a low-cut shirt that showed some unwanted cleavage and long, tight formfitting jeans. If Wendla ever dressed like that, her mama would punish her in an instant.

"Why the fuck do you care?" Natalie retorted back to her father. Wendla gasped. This girl just swore! And to her own father! Oh, would her mama loathe America…

"You were supposed to be home two hours ago. Where were you?"

"With Henry…God, Dad…why do you have to be so overprotective and wait up for me? I'm almost seventeen…"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you're an adult."

"Whatever…" She angrily walked away from him and found herself in the kitchen, face to face with Wendla. "Who's this?"

"This is your cousin. Wendla Bergman."

**A/N: Tada! So…what did you think? It will get so much better, I promise! **

**Reviews?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: here's more! Can't wait for Melchi to get involved! But it'll be a while…So for now we have Angsty Nat, Really Confused Wendla and some HenNat fluff! Lol…enjoy!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

Wendla was stunned. Was this how all Americans acted? Completely disrespectful, lewd and vulgar? She tried to think positively. Maybe they weren't. Maybe it was just her.

"_This_ is her?" Natalie asked like she didn't already understand what her father was saying.

"Yes…" Dan told her again. "Now, I have to talk to you."

"Dad…is she pregnant?" She caught sight of Wendla's small baby bump as she got up to get herself a glass of water.

"Natalie, come here…" He grabbed onto her arm and dragged her into the living room, where Wendla was out of earshot.

"What the hell?" Natalie complained yet again. "You never told me she was pregnant!"

"Yes…She's gonna be staying with us for a while."

She seemed to get his drift and asked cautiously, "How long is a while?"

"Until she has the baby."

Her jaw dropped angrily, looking over her shoulder to get another looked at this supposed cousin. "But that's like seven months from now! Where is she gonna stay?"

"She's gonna stay with you."

She shook her head thinking, _Why does he have to be so goddamn nice? He does realize that I still live in this house, right?_ "Why can't she stay in Gabe's room?"

She watched him wince on the word 'Gabe.' "Because it's a mess in there. Can't you make just one sacrifice for your family?"

Her eyes widened as if she was surprised at his words. She quickly stood up angrily and yelled at him, "You want me to make a sacrifice? Well, here's a newsflash for you! I have been sacrificing _everything_ for my family since the day I was born!" She ran over into the kitchen where Wendla still sat, confused.

"Do you know how many times I've had to give the excuse that my mother was sick or that we were having family problems because I missed something for _you?_ I've given up countless recitals, a state championship swim meet! My dance last spring? I had to drive her to the hospital! What the fuck makes you think I'm just gonna keep on doing it? I don't wanna do this anymore! I can't keep giving everything up for you, Dad!"

She thought she had made her point across…until Wendla's sweet, small voice piped up, "Well, where's your mama?"

She looked back and forth at the two, who both stood silent. She knew she had said something wrong as soon as she saw Natalie angrily run up to her room. "I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok…" Dan said calmingly. "She's a bit sensitive still…Her mother left last spring. It's just us now…"

Wendla nodded, understanding why Natalie would get so upset. She had no mama to look out for her. She remembered a girl from her town whose parents split. She was always upset and she was never really happy. She lived with her father and her mother had moved away. From what Wendla could remember, this girl seemed to be just like Natalie.

"I'm very sorry…But I think I'm going to go to bed, if it's alright with you."

He smiled at her softly. He quickly thought, _If only Nat was like this…_ "Go ahead. I'll help you bring your things up to Natalie's room."

She nodded and grabbed her and Dan grabbed her bags and lugged them upstairs. He left them outside of the door, saying that he didn't want Natalie to blow up in his face anymore. So cautiously, Wendla opened the door, but what she saw surprised her.

There was Natalie, all right. But she seemed different. She was lying on her bed, rolled into a ball. And she was crying. She looked so defeated when she cried. Wendla quickly slipped into the room and walked over towards the girl, placing her hand gently on her shoulder, causing her to gasp a little. But she soon accepted it and just kept on crying.

"Are you alright?" Wendla asked her softly.

Natalie shook her head and just whispered, "No…"

"I'm sorry about your mama…It's really terrible…"

She nodded this time, agreeing with her. "I'm sorry…I've had a terrible day…"

"Why?"

Natalie looked up at her cousin, wondering if she would listen to her. "I got in a fight with my boyfriend…and when I get angry, I stay angry…I usually try not to be like this, but today it was so goddamn hard…"

Wendla looked a bit offended by her use of God's name in vain. "Why do you curse like that? Where I come from, a child could be beaten for using language like that."

Natalie took a moment to think…Why _did_ she curse all the time? It was her only way of venting, she guessed. "I don't know…I can't control it when I get angry. It's like a reflex, I guess. I mean when someone's ranting and going on about someone who died sixteen years ago and they don't know you're hurting too, what's gonna get their attention? Crying and hoping they'll comfort you or just shouting profanity so they see how angry you are? That's why I do it…"

"Oh…I see…." Wendla noticed a small inflatable bed on the floor of the room with fresh sheets already put on it. She smiled and brought her things inside taking a seat on her little bed. But an idea quickly came to her. "Do you have a piece of paper and pencil I can use shortly?"

Natalie nodded and got up from her miserable ball to get her cousin her supplies. "What are you doing?" She asked, getting a huge stack of notebook paper out from her book bag.

"Writing a letter…"

"To who?"

Wendla wondered what to call Melchior. Was he her…_boyfriend?_ What was he exactly? The father of her child, yes. But boyfriend? "My friend. The baby's father…"

Natalie nodded in realization as she let a smile slip. She thought it was nice that they were keeping in touch. She watched Wendla write furiously to this friend, probably telling him all about her.

Before long, though, Natalie had fallen asleep and it was just Wendla who was up, writing to Melchior. She scanned over her note once more.

_My Dear Melchior,_

_I pray this finds you wherever you are. It's frightening being here on my own. America is not like home at all. Their clothing is just awful, horrendous to look at. People curse left and right. Oh, Melchi, it's terrible…_

_But the one thing I can say that is good is my family. They are so kind to me, even though I am a disgrace. They've given me a room and a bed to sleep on. They treat me like I was a part of their family. Oh, if only you could meet them! You'd like my cousin…she reminds me of you. Never playing by the rules, doing what she wants to do._

_I start school on Tuesday, for Monday is an American holiday called Labor Day. I do not know what it is there for, but all the schools close for a day. I shall tell you all about it, Melchi. Give my love to our friends and keep a close watch on Thea…_

_With Love,_

_Wendla _

She smiled as she gently placed the letter next to her bed, promising to mail it first thing tomorrow as she quickly fell asleep….

* * *

Tuesday had come rather quickly. Natalie had helped Wendla get her school supplies, as well as some new clothes, other than the dresses, skirts, and blouses she had packed. The two girls got themselves ready, each in their own completely different ways.

Wendla changed in her room into a tight t-shirt and equally tight jeans. She felt awkward. She could hardly even sit, her pants were so tight. She didn't understand how Natalie could wear these every day. She stared at herself in the mirror. She never realized how…_in bloom _she was. Her sore breasts were protruding as was her baby bump. She wondered why Natalie would put her in these clothes in the first place. She shook it off and walked downstairs, joining Natalie and Dan in the kitchen.

"See? You look great." Natalie told her, trying to be encouraging.

"B-But…I feel…strange."

"Well, you're pregnant…You're gonna feel strange."

Wendla nodded as she quickly poured herself a bowl of cereal, which she ate quickly. After they were done, she followed Natalie out to her car to drive to school. Wendla felt sick to her stomach. She didn't know if it was her nerves or her morning sickness, but she felt disgusting. As they pulled into the parking lot of he school, her sickness only increased. She saw tons of other teenagers talking, texting, hanging around waiting for school to start. She had never been to a school like this before.

"You coming?" Natalie asked her, already out of the car. Wendla nodded and followed her cousin into the school. What she saw there would surprise anyone from her town. There were girls…AND boys. In the same school!

"Natalie?" She asked cautiously. "Do boys go to this school?"

"Um…yeah. This isn't some dumb all-girls school…God, half of these sluts here would die without having boys around them all the time…"

_Oh, won't Melchior be excited to hear this!_ Wendla thought to herself as Natalie found her an unoccupied locker next to hers. They were putting their stuff away when all they heard was the sound of a boy's voice ringing behind them.

"Hey."

Natalie shot around, knowing right away it was Henry. "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry about the other day…I mean, yeah…I did sort of encourage you…but you have to understand that I have some reservations about…" His voice trailed off as he noticed Wendla watching him. "Is she the cousin?"

Natalie nodded and introduced the two. "Henry, Wendla. Wendla, this is my boyfriend, Henry."

The two of them shook hands like old pals before he found his eyes staring at her bulging stomach. "She's pregnant?"

Wendla couldn't believe that he noticed right away. She blushed and pulled away from him, going to face her open locker.

"Nice going…" Natalie scolded, pushing him aside to get to her cousin. "You ok?"

"Yes…I'm fine…"

She nodded and went back to talking to Henry like nothing ever happened. "So…my dad wanted to kill me yesterday…"

"Well, I told you to call him…"

"But why would I do that?" She rolled her eyes and slammed her locker shut. "That's, like, completely idiotic."

Wendla noticed that the two of them started to walk off so she hurriedly followed them, looking down at her schedule again. She had her first class with Natalie anyway. So she'd follow them.

"And it's also really helpful." He vouched, getting a nasty look from Natalie. "Oh, relax…he worries about you…"

"Yeah…too much…I mean, I'm almost seventeen. He can at least-" But she never finished her sentence as he quickly pressed his lips against hers to shut her up.

"That's better…" He smirked, staring at her now calm, quiet face. She threw her arm around him and held him close to her as they walked into their classroom.

Wendla on the other hand, was cautious. She didn't understand Natalie…one moment she hated the boy and the next they were all fine and dandy. Were they all like that? She was afraid to find out for herself. But she knew that her schooling was more important…So she slowly walked into the classroom only to find everyone staring right at her.

And now, she didn't think it was a good idea anymore…

**A/N: Aww…poor Wendla…Hopefully Melchior will cheer her up…**

**Reviews?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Aww…Guess who's here now? No! You have to guess! Lol…Sorry this one's so short…it's late and I was playing Sims 2 again…=D**

**So anywho…REVIEW PLEASE!**

**P.S. Yes. Lilli is named after Lilli Cooper. I like to name my characters off my favorite actors…lol**

Wendla heard tons of mumbles and comments being made towards her as she walked into the room. She didn't know what to do…So she went to take a seat by Natalie and Henry, but she was stopped by a vicious sounding voice from the other side of the room.

"Oh, my God…Are you new?"

Wendla shot around only to find some girl and her friends staring at her. "Um…yes."

The little posse giggled and the girl went to speak again, "Why don't you come sit with us?"

But before she could respond, Natalie piped up angrily, "Leave her the hell alone, Lilli."

"I'm sorry…" The girl named Lilli asked in a fake confused tone. "What did you say to me, Goodman?"

"Would you believe 'shut the fuck up, you fucking skank bitch'?" She threw Lilli a satisfied smirk.

"Cute….coming from you, the slutty, drug addict…"

Natalie couldn't help but to feel hurt now. But it quickly passed as the anger kicked in again. "How do you know that?" She moved towards Lilli threateningly. "Who told you? How do you know?"

She was about to smack Lilli hard, but she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Henry.

He quietly tried to get her to back off, whispering, "Don't get involved Nat…" It took some strength, but she eventually calmed down as he kissed her cheek gently, walking back over to his seat.

"Oh, well isn't that cute?" Lilli mocked, after watching their little PDA session. "The crazy girl and the stoner…Who would've guessed?"

Natalie took a deep breath in and walked back over to her own seat, trying not to turn around and punch her. She beckoned to Wendla to join her, and she did hastily.

"Oh, and new girl?" Lilli called again. "When you get tired of their company, there's always an empty seat for you…"

"Th-thank you…?" Wendla quickly took a seat next to Natalie and asked, "Who was that?"

"That's Lilli Roberts…"

"The biggest bitch in the school…" Henry added quietly. "I'd stay away from her if I were you…"

"Why?" Wendla asked cautiously.

"I knew this guy who went out with her for like a week. Apparently she criticized him so much that he actually developed and eating disorder and is now a lonely emo kid. You know the one who's always sitting at that one table at lunch all alone and he just…stares?" Natalie gave him a look that said 'shut up.' "But yeah. Keep your distance."

"She sounds simply horrible…"

Natalie scoffed and rolled her eyes, throwing Lilli another evil glare. "You're telling me…we used to swim together. We actually used to be friends…but then…there was the incident."

"Incident?"

She looked around to make sure no one was listening to her. "My mom got a little…nuts and jumped into the pool…And that, dear cousin, is why I have no friends."

Wendla couldn't help but to feel bad for Natalie. From the little that she knew already, she knew her mother was sick. And this girl Lilli made fun of her for having a sick mother. It sounded like something deranged version of Hanschen Rilow would do…And now the only friends that she had were Henry and Wendla. Wendla on the other hand, was blessed with many good friends: Thea, Martha, Anna, Ilse, Moritz and….Melchior. She wondered if he had ever got her letter. She wondered if he read about her wonderful family and their kindness to her. But she could only wonder…

* * *

School finally let out as everyone rushed to their lockers to leave. Wendla had hurriedly packed up, double checking that she had everything, eager to get home. But as her and her newfound friends were walking out, she noticed that they weren't heading out to Natalie's car. It was Henry's.

She watched as they all hopped into it, quickly going in herself. She noticed that the car just smelled strange…like there was no real air…it was smoky…worse than smoky.

"God, Henry, open a damn window!" Natalie yelled at him. "We don't need the pregnant girl getting high off your car…"

"Sorry…" he apologized, rolling the windows down. "It's not like I even notice…"

"Where are we going?" Wendla asked quietly, unsure of what they were doing.

"Back to my place," Henry explained, making a quick, sharp turn.

"B-But, Natalie, your papa said to-!"

"He knows where we are. Relax."

But Wendla couldn't relax. She wanted to go home. She wanted to see if Melchior had responded like she did every day. She wanted to make sure that he didn't forget her…but before she could say anything, they arrived at Henry's house. It was a lot smaller than Natalie's.

He explained that it used to be just him and his mother once his sister left for college when he was fourteen. His parents were split too. Only his mother had married another man. Wendla didn't know if this seemed right. She thought it was only allowed if the spouse had died…but then she kept reminding herself that this was America. Not Germany.

The three of them had trudged up to his room while no one else was home. They attempted to study a bit, but that plan quickly failed. Wendla noticed that Henry had just finished lighting a strange-looking cigarette. She was alright with smoking. Melchior smoked. Almost every boy in her town smoked. She was used to it. But there was something about what he was smoking that just seemed different…it was the same scent that was in the car..

"You're still smoking?" Natalie commented angrily, staring him down. "I thought you were gonna quit the pot…You're such a _great _influence, Henry…"

"I'm trying! Do you know how hard it is to quit after five years?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Ok…just…be careful."

He pulled her closer to him and kissed her…right on the lips. Wendla thought she was going to be sick…

"Please don't…" she muttered quietly.

"What?"

"Please stop. I can't watch that…That's how _this_ started…" She looked down at her soon-to-be baby. "He kissed me…a-and he touched me…and now I am having a child…I don't want to see this happen to you…"

The couple gave each other a worried glare. That was the last thing they needed. So they pulled apart and stopped.

"So…" Henry started, trying to break the awkward silence. "What's the deal with your folks?"

Wendla knew he was talking to her…but she didn't want to answer. "There is no deal…my papa died when I was younger…My mama raised me herself. That's it."

"I'm sorry…but why'd they send you here?"

"They didn't want me to be seen with a child. They wanted me to hide it. But I do not want to! I want to have my child and that will be all…"

The room was in pure silence again. No one knew what to do or what to say anymore. So shortly after skimming through some more notebooks, Henry had driven the two girls home, giving Natalie a quick peck on the cheek to Wendla's satisfaction…and Natalie's displeasure. Wendla had noticed something odd resting on top of their little mailbox. It was a small letter addressed 'To: Wendla Bergman. From: Melchior Gabor.'

"Oh!" Wendla shouted, running to the mailbox. "Natalie! It's from Melchi! He wrote back!" she quickly ripped open the envelope and took the letter out reading to herself.

_My Dearest Wendla,_

_I am so relieved to hear from you. After I escaped from that awful reformatory, I found myself living outside of our little village. I heard from no one for weeks. It was Ilse who found me. She told our friends where I was…and they had just received your letter._

_The place sounds awful, Wendla. But, that is America. They are obsessed with material items and clothing. You mustn't worry. I shall tell you more later._

_I am very pleased to hear about your family. They seem to be nice people. And I hope you are right about them…As for your cousin, well…let's just say she has a lot to live up to._

_I miss you dearly, Wendla. I wish I could see you once again, your beautiful eyes, your soft and perfect smile…_

_It will not be too long until I can see these all again. Go inside your house and see what I mean._

_With Love,_

_Melchior_

"Go inside…'?" Wendla thought out loud. _No!_ She thought happily. _He's not…_ she ran to the door and quickly opened it.

There, sitting at the little kitchen table was Melchior, who was smiling and smirking like mad.

"I told you it wouldn't be long…"

**A/N: AWWWWW! Cute!**

**Reviews?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This chapter's kinda random…sorry…I'm so tired….**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Warnings: Mentions of sex and rape.**

Wendla didn't care what anyone else thought. She ran right up to Melchior and just threw her arms around him, smiling.

"Oh, Melchi! I knew you'd come!"

He held her close to him, his head resting in her soft hair as he whispered in her ear, "I missed you too much…."

"I missed you too…"

He pulled away from her and kissed her lips gently, causing her to back up a little. "What?"

"N-Nothing…I just don't feel to well…"

He nodded and pulled up a chair for her next to him as the two began to talk. Meanwhile, Natalie had just walked into the house only to find her pregnant cousin talking to and kissing some boy she'd never seen before in her life. But her main concern was how did he get into her house?

"Um…hello…?"

Wendla turned around from Melchior and dragged Natalie towards him. "Melchi, this is my cousin I was telling you about. Natalie, this is Melchior Gabor."

He held his hand out to her politely, but she refused, staring him down like he was some sort of criminal. "Um…how'd you get into my house?"

"Well, I was bringing my letter for Wendla and a man saw me, I'm guessing he's your father?" Natalie nodded cautiously. "He asked me what I was doing here and I told him that I was here for Wendla and he let me in and told me to wait for you to get here."

_Oh, dad…_she thought angrily. _You've GOT to stop taking in refugees…_ "That's great…So…how long are you gonna be?"

"Here?" Melchior asked as Natalie gave him a look that said 'yes here, you dumb ass.' "Well, until the baby's born."

Both girls just stopped. Wendla was ecstatic, so happy that Melchior wanted to help her raise their child. Natalie, on the other hand, wasn't as thrilled.

"Well, where are you gonna stay?"

"He can stay with us!" Wendla suggested happily, embracing the boy again.

"Yeah, I don't feel like getting raped in the middle of the night…" She stopped to look at the two. Wendla looked confused, but Melchior full-out knew what she was talking about. He gave her a stare that said 'stop.' "And besides, my dad would never allow it!"

"I can sleep on the couch," he offered, shrugging.

Reluctantly she gave in, after seeing how happy Wendla was with him. It reminded her of her and Henry, how they would always be like that, happy around each other. She only wondered what her dad would say.

* * *

"He wants to _what?_" Dan asked after hearing Natalie's proposal.

"He said he wants to stay with her until the baby's born."

He wasn't liking this idea one bit. "But where's he gonna sleep?"

"He said he'd sleep on the couch. C'mon, Dad. She's happy. It's like me. I'm happy with Henry, she's happy with her guy. And I mean, he's father of the baby. It only makes sense to-!"

He shook his head, smiling to himself. She sounded just like her mother when Henry was first brought into the picture. Her mother had just wanted her to be happy. And now, Natalie was acting like a little mother to this girl she hardly knew.

"Ok, fine. But he is staying down here. Bedroom is off-limits."

"Thanks, Dad…" she quickly hugged her father before running off to her room, where Wendla and Melchior were eagerly awaiting the response. And as soon as Natalie walked in, they had their fingers crossed. "He said yes." she paused while the couple embraced quickly, both ecstatically happy. "But, he said bedroom's off-limits. So out."

Melchior got up quickly as he smirked, walking past Natalie, "He does realize that you don't have to be in a bedroom to have sexual relations, right?" And he walked out of the room. She had to admit that she was a little bit creeped out by that. Why would he care? And why would he say that to her?

"He's right, you know…" Wendla piped up, staring out the window dreamily. "We did that _thing_ together in a hayloft…Oh, my mama would have killed me if we were in a room."

"You two did it in a hayloft?" Natalie asked. _O….k then…._ "Um, eew. Wasn't it, like, gross?"

"No…actually it wasn't too bad. I was afraid the whole time. I even told him to stop a few times, but in the end he was happy and that made me happy. And it _did_ feel good at some parts…but it wasn't really an enjoyable experience."

She turned back to face her cousin, who was a little pale in the face, a bit scared. "You said no? And he did it anyway?"

Wendla shrugged happily, "Well, yes! He said that it would be fine, but I was afraid and he went ahead and did it to show me how what I was afraid of was nothing."

Natalie just nodded silently. Wendla knew something was wrong. Her cousin was never this silent, she was never even close to silent. She quickly explained that she was going to go talk to Melchior for a little bit as she walked out of the room, leaving Natalie alone.

She whipped out her cell phone and immediately dialed Henry's number, hoping he would pick up.

"Hello?" his voice rang as he answered.

"Henry? It's me…."

"Oh, hey Nat…everything ok?"

She scoffed and shook her head. "Everything's _far_ from ok. Do you think you can come over now? I have to talk to you."

"Um, yeah. Sure. I'll see you in a few minutes, then."

"Hurry…"

She quickly hung up the phone and waited for him to arrive. It took him about ten minutes. She texted him, saying that he should climb her balcony up to her window like he always did. And before long, she heard a light tapping on the glass. Knowing it was Henry, she opened it quickly and let him inside.

He went to go sit on her bed, closing the window behind him. "So…what do you have to talk to me about?"

She looked around to make sure everyone was out of earshot before she began. "Well, when we got home after you dropped us off, there was this guy in my kitchen. Apparently it's the father of my cousin's baby. He's staying with us too, only my dad is forcing him to sleep on the couch and he can't be up here. But when I was talking to Wendla about how she got pregnant, she told me that she clearly said no a few times."

"So….?"

"So? She resisted and he still continued to do it. I think he raped her."

They both just stared at each other, wondering how this could've happened. It all seemed to make sense, though.

"So he raped her? Does she know?"

"No. She doesn't understand the consent thing. She doesn't even know what sex is called. _He_ knows. I know he does. And the scary thing is, he's ready to do it again. I'm afraid he'll come after me next…"

He quickly pulled her into a safe embrace, holding her so close that she could hear his heart beating. "Shhh…he won't…I promise. If he tries to hurt you, tell me. I'll kick his ass so hard that he won't be able to sit for the rest of his life."

She nodded, smiling a bit. She loved to know that she was so safe. She always felt safe when he was around. He was her protector, that was his responsibility to her.

"Ok…" she threw her arms around him and whispered, "Can you stay with me tonight?"

"Why?"

"Just to make sure."

He smiled and kissed her cheek softly. "Of course. And we'll dodge your dad. But I mean, it's not like we're doing anything. We've _never_ done anything…We got close but…" He trailed off seeing her annoyed face.

"Thanks, Henry…" she finally mumbled, still in his arms, close to falling asleep.

"It's nothing…" he replied, kissing her again. "I'm just doing my job."

She loved the way he held her. He made her feel so safe. Like nothing and no one could ever hurt her. But before long, she was asleep, still in his loving embrace….

That is, until they heard a knock at the door.

**A/N: Eeep! Who is it? lol...Melchi's a bad boy...**

**Reviews?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Before we start I'd like to address some reviewers! Yes. This is musical-verse. Yes. I know Wendla wasn't raped. Natalie had that line where she said she THINKS she was, but we'll see in this chapter why she wasn't. And Yes. There are more people entering the story! Enjoy and I'm sorry for confusing everyone!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

"Natalie?"

The door had opened, exposing Natalie and Henry to whomever was at the door. She looked to see who it was, already blushing. To her surprise, it was Wendla who was going to get some paper and a pen to write another letter. She was confused as to why her cousin and her boyfriend were just lying together on her bed. And when did he get here?

"What are you doing?" Wendla asked, practically dropping her piece of paper in shock.

"Wendla," Natalie tried to explain quickly. "We're not-!"

"_Here?_ After your father said it's not allowed!"

"We're not doing anything!" Natalie angrily got up from the bed and moved threateningly closer to her cousin. "Not a word of this leaks, ok? If he finds out, I'm so grounded. And when I'm grounded, I get pissed and you don't want to see me pissed again."

"Nat, let it go…" Henry piped up, getting up as well and moving towards her. He put his hand on her shoulder, but she quickly swatted it away. "We're sorry, Wendla. This is just a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" Wendla was angry now. She knew their intentions. She knew she had to be like her mama. She had to stop them from ending up like her and Melchior. "I know you were going to do that…that _horrible_ thing-!"

"It's called sex, Wendla." Natalie added angrily, Henry still holding her back from lashing out at her cousin. "And no. We're nowhere near that because _someone_ is too afraid he'll go against his morals."

"Don't drag me into this…" Henry stated clearly, this time backing up from Natalie.

"Look, Wendla, let me explain something. We're not having sex. We're not even close. The only reason he's here is because I was worried about you and I needed to talk to someone. I fell asleep. OK?"

Wendla felt like a fool now. She was worried about her and all she could do was scold? She felt so ashamed now as she quietly nodded, asking, "Why were you worried?"

Natalie just sighed. She didn't know how to explain this to a girl who knew so little. "We…we think you were raped."

The other girl was just plain confused. "What? What does that mean?"

"It means….well, when a person has sex with you without your consent. Kind of what you were explaining to me. It's illegal. It's a crime."

She could see Wendla's chest heaving as her breathing became shallower. She shook her head slowly and just took off, running out of the room. She darted down the stairs and into the living room before eventually running right into Dan, who had just got into the house. She looked up at him pitifully before bursting out into tears, crying into his shoulder as best she could.

"Natalie…get down here…" He sighed angrily. Natalie cursed under her breath and told Henry to stay in her room as she made her way downstairs.

"What?" she replied, glaring at Wendla, a glare that said 'you tell, you die.'

"What's going on here?" He let go of Wendla as Melchior came in from the kitchen and took her into his own arms, kissing her and trying to quiet her.

"Dad, I-! It's so hard to…." She finally just sighed and let the it out. "I think she was raped."

All motion in the room stopped. The look on Dan's face completely matched Melchior's: confused, angry, and worried. "What?" the both of them asked in unison.

"By him…" Natalie pointed guiltily to Melchior.

He angrily got up from where Wendla was sitting darted right over to the other girl who was practically fearing for her life now. "I would _never_ do that to her! What gives you the right to say that I did?"

"She was telling me. She said no!"

"She was afraid! She calmed down and she accepted it! I know you don't like me, but accusing me of something like _that_ is just…wrong."

He stormed off back over to Wendla, who was still crying. He threw Natalie one last angry glare before throwing his arms around the sobbing girl.

"B-But I swear…" She trailed off, looking down at her feet.

"How could you do that?" Wendla sobbed, pulling herself away from Melchior. "How could you even _think_ of accusing someone you don't know of something so _awful_?"

"Well, look who's talking…"

"You just don't like him, do you? You just don't like me! Because I'm a disgrace! Because of my mistakes! I'll have you know that I-!"

"Goddammit! Enough with your sob story!" The girls were getting into an all-out fight by now. "No one gives a fucking shit about you or your jackass boyfriend! So just get the fuck out of my face, you whore!"

"Natalie!" Dan yelled after watching the fight go on too long.

"Just fuck off!" She yelled back, running up to her room, slamming the door shut.

Her father just sighed, falling into a chair in the kitchen, his head in his hands. How did it come to this? Why now? He couldn't keep doing this on his own anymore. It was too much for one person to handle…

"I'm sorry about her…" he muttered apologetically to Melchior. "She's-"

"It's fine…" the boy cut in, Wendla in his arms yet again.

"Why does she do that?" she cried even harder. "Why does she have to be so cruel? She's vile! Absolutely vile!"

Melchior just hushed her, trying to calm her down. "Shhh…everything's fine, Wendla. She doesn't hate you…she was suspicious and she did the right thing. If something awful happened to you I would want to know about it. But what she said to you was wrong. No one deserves that."

She nodded and just cried into his shoulder. Little did they know that the same thing was happening upstairs.

* * *

"I mean, who does she think she is?" Natalie continued to rant to a Henry who was half-asleep. "This is _my_ house! Not hers! She thinks she can just barge in, move into my room and then boss people around? I mean, what the hell?"

"Nat, you're overreacting…" Henry managed to get out over her shouts.

"Oh, _I'm_ overreacting? You should've seen her down there! Bursting into tears after every single little thing!

"Well, you did insult her pretty bad…"

She just stopped and moved closer to him, her eyes burning furiously. "Who's side are you on? Her's or mine?"

"Um…Can I be neutral?"

Without warning she just lashed out at him. "No! This isn't fucking World War II! And you're my boyfriend! You're supposed to be on my side!"

He grabbed onto her hand and dragged her down onto the bed where he was sitting. And even though she tried to make a fuss, he pulled her closer and kissed her gently.

"Then fine. I'm on your side." he whispered, throwing her a bright smile as she pulled away from him. She seemed to settle down a bit as he took her into his arms and just held her. He kissed her over and over again, whispering that everything was going to be ok, that they'd work something out.

And it seemed to be helping until she just burst into tears.

"What?" he asked, holding her closer.

"God, none of this would've happened if my mom hadn't left….Why did she do this to me, Henry? Why does she enjoy putting me through this?"

He tried to settle her down as he soothingly answered, "She doesn't enjoy putting you through pain, you know that…You know she loves you. As much as I do. Maybe more. And I don't think she intended for any of this to happen, Nat. It was just fate."

She felt so odd, but she finally fell into his embrace, allowing him to keep his arms around her. "Well, then I hate fate…"

"Sometimes it's good to us though…like with me and you."

She rolled her eyes at him, starting to fall back out of the embrace. "You really believe that was an act of fate, that we met?"

"Well, how else would I randomly meet the person who completed me? C'mon…you've gotta believe in something."

She just shook her head, getting annoyed again. "I think I'm just gonna go to sleep…"

He quickly laid her down on the bed, soon lying next to her, his arms around her, as he kissed her. "Ok…good night, Natalie."

"Good night…" she muttered, already half-asleep in his embrace.

"Sweet dreams."

"Henry, shut up and go to sleep…"

He laughed silently and soon enough the both of them were fast asleep…but all Natalie could think about was the hell that she would be going through tomorrow.

**A/N: Uh-oh! Lol…What shall happen next? **

**Reviews?**


	6. Chapter 6

Natalie dreaded even waking up the next morning. She knew Wendla was still pissed at her. And that's all she needed to deal with…someone else pissed at her. She made sure Henry snuck out of the house before her father woke up…or before his parents did. Now she was alone. All alone with the whole world against her.

Just what she needed.

She quickly got dressed and got out of the house before Wendla and her stupid boyfriend could say anything to her. She'd just let them take the bus.

She made sure she got to school early, running straight to the practice room as soon as she got there. Angrily, she slammed the door behind her, going to sit at the piano. She didn't even warm up before beginning to play an angry piece off the top of her head. She couldn't remember if this was already written or if she was making it up as she went along. But she was into it…she always got emotionally connected to her music. It was just a habit of hers…a way of coping….

Suddenly, she heard the door open as she swiftly removed her hands from the keys. She looked over her shoulder only to see the school's music teacher walking in, putting his bags down on his desk.

"Natalie, you're here early…" he commented, looking at the clock. 7:15. Classes started at 8.

"I-I just needed to practice…" she tried to go back to her piece, but somehow, her vibe was interrupted now.

"What were you playing anyway?"

"I dunno….I just sort of made it up…"

He nodded, walking over to her at the piano, smiling proudly. "That's interesting. What's the mood of the piece?"

She rolled her eyes, as if he couldn't tell already. "Angry."

"Are you angry?"

Sighing and just letting her hands slide down the keys, she admitted, "Yes…"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head and hastily responded, "No." She looked up at the clock. She still had forty minutes to kill, but she couldn't take the awkwardness. "No….I have to go anyway. Meeting someone…."

She looked over at the teacher. He could tell she was lying, but he said nothing. "Ok…I'll see you later, Natalie."

She quickly said her goodbyes before darting from the room. Now where? She didn't know where to go…that practice room was her only safe haven…And that was gone too. She couldn't take this anymore. She just wanted everything to be normal…

She finally found her locker and got her stuff together for the morning, quickly slamming it shut before slouching against it.

"Hey…"

She shot around to find Henry coming right at her. She felt a bit relieved, knowing that he was still there for her. Especially when no one else was.

"Did you get home ok?" she asked as he kissed her quickly on the lips.

"Well, yeah…Mom said she saw me missing in the middle of the night. She was pissed."

"Grounded?"

"Uh-huh….two weeks."

"That's it?" she sort of giggled at the miniscule punishment. "You snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to sleep over your girlfriend's house and all you got was two weeks of grounding?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining…"

She smiled for the first time today. She felt better now that he was here. She was about to tell him something when suddenly she saw none other than Wendla walking down the halls with a rather infatuated-looking Melchior by her side. She decided to ignore her and just tug Henry away from them. She followed him to his locker, making sure Wendla was out of their way.

"God, I hate her so much…." she managed to scowl yet again.

Henry just rolled his eyes, grabbing his books from his locker. "You got into one fight…relax. I mean, _we've _fought before. You never told me you hated me."

"Yeah, well, you're not an annoying pregnant whore."

He just dropped everything that he was carrying and gave her a slightly amused stare. "No. I'm not. I'm just your sweet, incredibly sexy, stoner boyfriend."

He kissed her again, causing her to giggle. "Um, yeah…not so sure about the incredibly sexy part."

"Ok, a little sexy."

"Don't push your luck." she smiled, openly mocking him. She waited for him to pick his books up once again before heading over to class. She got the usual foul glare from Lilli as her and Henry walked past, but she didn't seem to mind…

Until Wendla entered the room. She noticed Natalie sitting there and didn't want to join her at all. She almost had a conflict…

"Hey, new girl…" a girl sitting near Lilli called, beckoning to Wendla. "C'mere."

Wendla didn't know what to do. She knew that Natalie had told her to stay away from this girl. But then again…she wanted to get on Natalie's nerves. She wanted to piss her off. So she went to sit near Lilli.

"So…We heard you and your little friend over there got in a fight…" Lilli smiled deviously.

"Yes….why?"

"Well, we want you to sit with us! You can't be all alone…Can you?" Wendla shook her head, agreeing with the girl. "Good…I'm Lilli. This is Hannah and Melissa. And you are?"

"Oh!" she realized that Lilli had asked her the question. "Wendla. Wendla Bergman."

Lilli just shared an evil smirk with the other two girls.

"Welcome to the crew."

* * *

Gym class. The most evil of all school classes.

Natalie hated how out of pure coincidence, Wendla was in this class too. She had been hanging around Lilli, which pissed her off. She knew she hated the girl, but she didn't want to see her get hurt…

Today they were playing dodge ball. Of course, Natalie's least favorite game in her least favorite class with her least favorite people. Except for Henry. She could never really _hate_ him. They split up teams, Natalie being picked last. And unfortunately, her and Henry were on separate teams.

She hoped he wouldn't mind if she took her anger out on him in this game. As the teacher blew the whistle, the game began: dodging every person and ball, hoping not to get hit. The game progressed and it was just her and Wendla on their team and Lilli and a few other students on the other one. She saw Lilli mouthing some words to Wendla from across the room…and before she knew it…

Wendla had thrown the ball right at her. She got her own teammate out. Because of goddamn Lilli Roberts and this stupid fight. And by the time she reached the bleachers, where Henry had been sitting out for most of the game, she immediately started to rant.

"Did you see what she did?"

"Yes…we all saw…"

"She figures 'oh! I'm so sweet and innocent! No one will ever expect me to cheat in a gym game!' I can't _stand_ her!"

Apparently, Wendla had overheard this comment, considering that she threw Natalie an evil, angry stare. She hated how she was being treated. She hated how cruel Natalie could be. And when she was with Lilli, it made her feel like she had some power…

And she liked it.


	7. Chapter 7

By the time school was over, the two girls had gone their separate ways, Wendla with Melchior and Natalie with Henry. It seemed as though they were now living two separate lives, neither one wanting to affiliate with the other. They wanted nothing to do with each other.

Wendla had gone straight home. She was invited to go out with Lilli and her crew, but she quickly declined, telling them that she was needed at home. They all gave her the same confused, condescending glare as she walked away.

At home, though, she immediately raided her cousin's room for some paper. She grabbed a few sheets and brought them down to the kitchen where she quickly sat at the table and began to write.

"Who are you writing to?" She heard Melchior's voice ask. She turned around to see him walking towards her from the living room.

She just sighed and tried to write some more. "Martha Bessell."

"Martha Bessell? Why?"

"Because she's my friend and she can help me." She angrily retorted, scribbling some more words down. She didn't understand why she was so angry. She didn't feel angry. She would never be mad at Melchior. What was wrong with her? She sighed and dropped her head onto the table. "Oh, Melchi, I can't take this anymore! I don't want to be angry! But somehow I am! I feel awful every day and…and I just can't do it anymore!"

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, their cheeks touching. "Shhh…don't worry…It's from the baby. The baby will make you act strange and feel different. Don't worry about a thing…"

"Ok…Will you let me write now?" He nodded and walked out of the room as she sighed and finished her writing.

_Martha,_

_Hello! It's been such a long time since we have talked. Is everything going well at home? Do not worry, Martha, will be home shortly._

_But Martha I must ask you something. When your papa beats you or calls you names, how do you deal with it? I have been insulted too many times here. I don't like it…I'm treated different because of my condition and because my cousin does not like Melchior. She accused him of the most awful things! _

_Oh, Martha, it's too much to bear. I need your help, my friend….Please respond as soon as you get this. Thank you so much._

_You dear friend, _

_Wendla_

* * *

Natalie, however, had a different way of taking out her pain. She sat with Henry in his room, slouching against his bed, a half-smoked joint in her hand.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this…" Henry rolled his eyes, angry at himself, opening this window up for her to hurt herself again.

"Oh c'mon…I'm stressed…" She replied, scooting closer to him. "I deserve it…"

He just nodded, not knowing what to say. He started to have a familiar grudge against Wendla as well now. He thought she was a nice girl and all, but she allowed those girls at school to use her to get to Natalie. They used Wendla to hurt her, to make her do this to herself. And he couldn't accept that.

"I should get you home…" he managed to say to her quietly. He knew she didn't want to go home. And he didn't want her to go. But he wanted anything to get her away from this.

"No…" she slurred, moving even closer to him, her arms around him now. "I don't wanna go home…_she's _at home. And she'll do something else to me…I know it…I wanna stay with you…"

This time she pulled herself on top of him, kissing his lips passionately. She pressed herself against his body and continued to kiss him, feeling the heat of the two of their bodies put together. He would've let her keep going…

If he hadn't pulled away in pure disgust. "Ok, that's enough. You're stoned and you're going home."

"No!" She yelled at him, slurring her words. "You wouldn't DARE to bring me back there. You wouldn't even THINK about it! You wanna go on her side? You wanna leave me all alone in this? Well, fine!"

"No, Natalie…" She started to get up, but he grabbed onto her arm and dragged her back down. "You know I would never want to hurt you…I'm with you and I won't leave you. You won't be alone…But I need to make sure you're safe. I need to get you away from starting this up again. I would do anything to keep you safe, you know that…."

Sheepishly, she nodded and came up with an idea of her own. "You'd do anything?"

"Anything."

"W-Would you…have sex with me?"

He threw her a scowl that looked as if she had just sprouted a second head. "No! I would never do that! Not even if our lives depended on it would I ever sleep with you before-!"

But she had heard enough from him. "Just shut up!" And she angrily darted from the room.

He couldn't believe that they were in yet another fight. He watched her as she stormed out of his house and into her car. He didn't even finish his point to her. He was going to say before marriage. He didn't want to have anything to do with sex until then. But she didn't seem to care…she just wanted what she wanted. And that was it.

He only hoped that everything would get better…

* * *

Natalie arrived home sooner than she thought, her eyes still bloodshot from the pot. She wanted to make sure her father didn't see her, so she ran straight up to her room. But what she found was a shock to her.

Wendla sat on her bed, looking through an old photo album. If she was feeling anything like herself today, she would've screamed at the girl and stole the album from her. No one had ever seen those except herself. Not even Henry was privileged enough to see her photos.

She quietly walked over to Wendla and noticed she was looking at the old ones. From before she was born. There were the pictures of her parents after they got married, happy for once. There were pictures of baby Gabe, pictures that she'd look at and feel normal. She watched as the girl quickly flipped the pages to see a bunch of Natalie's baby pictures. It would either be just her or her and her father together. Never her mother. Her mother would always steer clear from baby pictures.

"You like them?" She asked Wendla, causing the girl to gasp in fright.

"You scared me!" She yelled back at her cousin.

"Sorry…but why are you looking at those?"

Wendla shrugged and look through some more. "I don't know. I guess I sort of miss home. And looking at these made me feel better." she took a moment and then began again. "Natalie, I'm very sorry for what I've done lately. I didn't mean it…It's from the baby and I'm very very sorry…"

Natalie just gave the girl a smirk and sat down next to her. "And I'm sorry about what I said to you. I just got sort of out of control…it happens a lot actually…"

Wendla smiled happily and concluded, "So, does this mean we're friends again?"

"Sure."

The two girls giggled as they went to look through more pictures. There were some of later years: Christmas pictures, birthdays, vacations, first day of high school. It went on and on…until the last few pages Wendla noticed were covered with recent pictures of Natalie and Henry, both of them smiling happily, kissing, being adorable.

"He's a nice boy…" Wendla found herself saying quietly.

"Your's too…but…we got into another fight today…"

"Why?"

Natalie sighed and shook her head, "Nothing…it was really kind of stupid."

The other girl nodded and decided to quickly hug Natalie out of the blue. She ten quickly explained, "Thank you so much…for forgiving me…for talking to me."

"No problem…"

They continued to look through the old pictures, laughing and smiling like they'd known each other before. Like they were sisters…

And for once, Natalie felt normal.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to YourEyes1012 who…**

**A.) Was the only one who reviewed the last chapter**

**B.) has been begging me to write a Melchi/Pot chapter….lol**

**Here you go! WARNINGS: I just realized that this story is littered with sex, so excuse that please. =D**

**REVIEW PLEASE! **

Wendla knew what she had to do at school. She was afraid to ditch Lilli after what she had heard about her. So it was her plan that she would hang around with them for a little longer to lessen the impact. It had already been a whole month and she was getting restless.

"So…what happened to the 'perfect couple' over there?" Lilli asked deviously, pointing out that Natalie and Henry, who were still in a fight, were sitting at opposite sides of the cafeteria.

"They got into a fight…" Wendla revealed cautiously. That's all she knew.

"I hear that she's still a virgin…" Hannah whispered like it was some big secret.

"I hear that he is too," Melissa giggled, trying to keep her volume down.

"What's a virgin?" Wendla asked as they gave her that condescending stare. The only time she had heard that word was in church. The Virgin Mary. She never knew what it meant, but she played along.

"You don't know what a _virgin_ is?" Lilli asked skeptically. "What do they teach you in Germany?"

"Not this…is it related to…you know…" She took a moment to remember what Natalie had called it before whispering, "Sex?"

"Yeah. Completely. A virgin is a prude who hasn't had sex before. Not a single one of us here falls into that category. What about you? Are _you_ a virgin?"

She had to think. Her and Melchior had sex…she was pregnant now. So what does that make her? "No."

The girls were shocked. Their eyes all widened at the same time as they took in her words.

"Really?" Hannah asked curiously. "Who'd you bang?"

"Excuse me?"

"She means who did you have sex with?" Lilli translated for the girl.

"Oh. My friend. Melchior Gabor. And he-"

"The one from my calculus class?" Melissa asked, and her friends knew right away who she was talking about. "He's so sexy! Are you two together?"

"Well, sort of yes, because…um…because…" How would she explain this to them? It would be her perfect moment to ditch them. "I'm carrying his child."

All commotion at the table just stopped as they all threw her a surprised, yet angry glare. Wendla didn't know if she should stay put or run.

"What?" Lilli asked, not believing her. "He knocked you up?"

"Um…yes?"

"You're _pregnant?_"

"Yes."

"Get the fuck out of here."

"Wh-what?" Wendla asked, confused. She'd heard that used before, but as a joke. But she had a feeling that Lilli wasn't joking.

"I said get out!" Lilli got up and forcibly removed the girl from the table. "You little bitch! You _can't_ ruin our reputation like that! Get the hell out of here!"

Somewhat relieved, Wendla obeyed and got out from that table. She quickly went and joined Natalie and Melchior, who sat with her. She felt awful as she sat down at the table, immediately resting her head on it.

"They know I'm pregnant." she admitted, right before Melchior could ask.

"I'm sorry…" he muttered, kissing her cheek gently.

"Thank you…Well, I did it. I'm gone." She sort of smiled and lifted her head up. She quickly looked over at Natalie and she couldn't help but to think of what Lilli had said about her. So she just had to ask. "Natalie, are you really a virgin?"

Natalie sort of wondered where the question came from. "What? Why do you care?"

"Because Lilli said you were."

Natalie scoffed and threw a nasty glare in Henry's direction. "Yes…I am. And that's what me and him are fighting about."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't wanna be a virgin anymore! I think we're deep enough in our relationship that we can have sex. But he wants to wait…I can't stand being labeled like that anymore. I'm not a virgin by choice, I'm a virgin by force."

She just sort of sunk into her seat while Melchior's mind was at work. "You know, if you really want to lose your virginity so badly, you could just have sex with someone other than him."

She gave him a look like he just told her that her mother died. "What? No! That would just be wrong! I want to lose it, yes. But I want to lose it to him. And he would lose his to me. It'll be special."Wendla liked the sound of that. She liked the idea of making this a beautiful thing. Both of them trusting one another so much as to give up a part of them to the other. She remembered feeling almost the same way about her and Melchior.

"That sounds wonderful…" Wendla sighed. "Why don't you tell him that?"

"I do. But he doesn't want to listen to me…"

But before she could go on anymore, the bell rang for fifth period to begin, as everyone ran out to their next class.

* * *

Henry felt awful about what had happened with him and Natalie. He wanted to tell her what he wanted to say before she walked out on him. But how would he do it? And his problem was just about solved when he saw Melchior walking down the hall with his books for the weekend ahead.

He quickly ran up to the other boy, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey!" he sort of shouted over the ruckus of everyone leaving.

"Oh. Hello." Melchior merely stated, kind of confused why he was talking to him.

"Uh, look, I've been meaning to ask you something. You wanna, like, come back to my pace so we can talk?"

Melchior was confused still, but he guessed he could go, hoping Natalie wouldn't mind. "Sure. That sounds good."

And so the two of them left for Henry's house immediately. Once they got there, they ran up to Henry's room, where he started to light a joint almost as soon as they got in. it had been an awful habit of his lately. He'd been smoking more than he should have.

"You smoke?" Melchior asked, watching him stick the joint in his mouth immediately.

"Yeah…I do. I know I shouldn't, but…" He had an idea now. A brilliant idea. This would be how he got to Natalie. Maybe for once the pot was actually helpful. "Why? You want one?"

"Sure…I used to smoke back home before-" But Melchior stopped to cough for a moment, pulling the already lit joint from his mouth. "What is this?"

Henry just gave him a sly smirk and answered. "_That_ is marijuana. It sort of helps me to relax."

"How? It's awful…"

"Oh, you'll see…"

* * *

About twenty minutes later and Henry had Melchior as high as an airplane. He actually found it amusing to watch the other boy as he slurred his words or laughed like a madman for no reason.

"You were right…" Melchior said, chuckling again for no apparent reason. "This is rather relaxing…"

"I told you…and man, I think we need it the most…you know how girls can be…"

The two of them laughed at Henry's remark as Melchior continued, "I still can't believe that in six months I'll be a father…it's frightening to think about…And you…you're in a fight over your girlfriend's virginity…"

Henry sort of froze. He could control himself better with the pot than a first-timer like Melchior could. "What? That's what this is about? She doesn't want to be a virgin?"

"Well, yes…and….and she said that she wants to lose it to you…only you…and she wants it to be some...big beautiful affair…She thinks you're at the point where you c-can trust her…"

Henry just nodded. He agreed with everything he told him. He was afraid to take that step without the trust….

But if it was trust Natalie wanted, then it was trust she'd get.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hi people! Sorry this is so short and sucky…But I had to resolve the HenNat fight! And there's some Martha in this chapter! For princesshannah12345 who gave me the idea!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

Wendla and Natalie sat at home wondering where Melchior had gone to. He just got up and left straight from school. But the girls had found a way to pass the time. Wendla had received a letter back from Martha in the mail today and was reading it out loud.

"'Wendla, It is wonderful to hear from you. I hope you are well. I'm sorry this could not have come sooner. I was going to wait until night to send it so my parents wouldn't read it, but ever since you left, none of us are allowed outside at night. For instance, Thea went to my house to ask me about an assignment for class-'" Wendla paused for a moment to explain to Natalie. "Thea is my best friend! 'And her parents though she was out with Ernst Robel! He does not live too far from me, you know.

"'But that is beside the point. Wendla, when I read your letter I felt a horrible pit of shame building up inside of me. Yes. My papa beats me and I learn to ignore it. Because I know it'll come again, but if I stop thinking about it, it makes it less frightening. And the same with you. But Wendla, I realized now that I never told you what actually goes on in my home. I've never told anyone but Ilse. Not you or Thea or even Anna know. When I read about the unjust accusations of Melchior, I knew what he was accused of. Rape. Ilse told me what that meant, and I feel awful to say that I have succumbed to this thing called rape all of my life. By my papa.'"

Natalie froze for a minute. This girl that Wendla was friends with was beaten and raped by her own _father?_ "Her own father does that to her?"

"Yes…but from what I read in your newspapers, that happens a lot here. Right?"

"Yes…but I've never actually known someone who went through that…"

Wendla nodded, feeling the same way before she continued to read, "'It wasn't as scary at first. I didn't know what was going on, but once it got more frequent and I learned about its dangers, I became more and more afraid. I want you to know that I was strong, Wendla. I endure this every day. And if I can do it, so can you. Be strong for me, be strong for Melchi, be strong for your child. I must go now. I wish you all the best. I will see you soon. Martha."

Wendla didn't know what to say. Martha had never mentioned anything of her father doing something like that to her. She wondered how long he'd been doing it. Did he just start? Or did it start earlier, when Martha was a little girl? She remembered that Martha would never stay out late with them to play pirates. She was always laid-back and revered. Maybe it was because she was afraid of what would happen to her if she wasn't.

"Wow…" Natalie said quietly, breaking the silence. "I feel so bad for her…"

"So do I…." It's all she could say.

She didn't want to think of the pain her friend was going through. She wanted to think of how strong she was…but it was hard. The two girls just sat there in pure silence, neither one of them knowing what to say…until the door suddenly burst open as a still-high Melchior was escorted inside by Henry

"What are you doing here?" Natalie asked angrily, staring him down.

"Dropping off your buddy…"

She looked over at Melchior who was still acting like a complete idiot. "Did you-?"

"Yes…ok? I did." He averted his eyes from her, having that odd guilty feeling in his stomach.

She shook her head at him furiously, turning around to see how Melchior was doing. He seemed to be ok…loopy, but ok. Natalie turned back to face Henry, but she didn't look him straight in the eyes.

"Why'd you give it to him?"

"The pot?"

She looked about ready to shoot him. "No, the herpes…_Yes_ the pot!"

"U-Um…well…" He sort of stuttered, trying to think of a good enough reason to pass by her. He couldn't just go up to her and say 'oh, well, I miss you so badly that I got your cousin's boyfriend high to get some answers out of him.' She'd hate him forever.

"Henry? Did you even hear me?"

He nodded furiously, hoping that she wouldn't storm off. "Look, c-can I talk to you? Alone?"

Skeptically, she gave in and nodded, leading him up to her room, where the both of them wound up sitting on her bed. It was a bit awkward. Neither one of them had spoken to the other for a whole month. But without hesitation, Henry began his little speech that he had been preparing in his head since he got there.

"Nat-"

"Don't call me that…."

He sighed and went on. "_Natalie_, look. Yes. I gave him the pot. And you wanna know why?" She nodded and gave him a confused look as he tried to think of a way to put this nicely. "I thought I could get some information out of him…"

"About me?" She asked as he nodded sadly. "You fucking, little-!"

"Please let me finish. He told me about you. He told me how you're just dying to lose your virginity." She started to get up, but he grabbed onto her hand and pulled her back. "He told me that you wanted to lose it to me…Only me. And that you trust me enough to let me do that to you."

She was kind of touched. He seemed to be agreeing with her…everything seemed to be going well. "H-He said that?" He nodded, putting a small smile on Natalie's face. "And what do you say about it?"

"If you feel we're ready…but I mean, I wanna know that you're sure this is what you want. I'd feel horrible if it wasn't and you lost your virginity anyway. It's just overwhelming that you're letting me take that from you."

"Henry…" she scooted closer to him, placing her hand gently on his cheek. "We're ready. We trust each other with everything. You're my best friend. I just want to take our relationship to the next level, I want to show you how much I love you." she pulled him closer and kissed him, as if to say 'See what I mean?'

"I know…but are you sure?"

"Yes…I'm sure. This is what I want. I want you."

He nodded and smiled, pulling the two of them close again. "And I want you…" He quickly kissed her before going back to their discussion. "So…when are we gonna do this?"

"Soon…This weekend? Tomorrow night?"

He just smirked and gave in to her plan. "Ok…tomorrow night. My place around…nine o'clock?"

She smiled, moving closer to him still. "Perfect…" She quickly kissed his neck and whispered into his ear, "I'll be waiting…"

He had to admit that she gave him shivers when she talked to him like that, in her most sexy, breathy voice. He loved the way he felt around her. Even when she wasn't being all sexy. His nerves seemed so much more calm about this since he knew it would be with her.

He gave her a somewhat devious grin and kissed the top of her head, gently whispering to her, "I have to go…I'll see you tomorrow…I love you, Nat…"

She returned his grin and accepted his affection. "I love you too…See you tomorrow…"

And with that, she led him back downstairs and let him out the door, smiling like an idiot. She sighed happily as she went to join Wendla and a now-crashing Melchior.

"What did he want?" she asked, wondering why Natalie was suddenly so happy.

"We're not fighting anymore…He's gonna sleep with me tomorrow. We're gonna have sex."

Wendla couldn't exactly say she was happy for Natalie, more concerned. "I hope you don't end up like me…it would be awful if you did. Be safe please."

"We will, mother, don't worry about it!"

She was so ecstatically happy right now. Tomorrow, her and Henry took the next huge step in their relationship, even closer to each other then. She couldn't wait…

Until she remembered one thing: How was she going to ditch her dad?


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M! To be safe! Nothing too graphic! But…yeah.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

It was about seven o'clock on Saturday evening. The small Goodman family was just finishing up dinner, when Natalie realized the time. She only had two hours. How was she gonna get past her dad? Melchior had an idea that he told her earlier, but it seemed too easy. But it was her only shot.

"Oh, hey, Dad…" she started, looking over at Melchior for instructions. "You know my friend Julie, right?"

"The one who moved two years ago?" Dan asked, wondering what she wanted with such an old friend. They didn't even talk anymore.

"Yeah, her. She just called me like thirty minutes ago. She wants me to sleepover tonight. Is that ok with you?"

"Uh…sure. Why don't you bring Wendla with you? I bet she'd like her…"

She never saw that coming, so she tried to work out an excuse. "Yeah, she would…But she told me she only wanted to have me over, so…it would be kind of rude to drag her along."

Wendla nodded in agreement as if she was actually a part of this who scheme. "I don't' mind anyway…I need my rest."

Dan just nodded and sighed. "Ok, fine. You can go."

Natalie had to restrain herself from bursting out into excitement, but she nodded and, before long, went to go 'pack her things.'

She sat in her room, grabbing a pair of fresh clothes for tomorrow morning. She knew she was excited, but now as it drew closer, she was getting kind of nervous. She didn't know what to expect. This whole experience was new to her. All she knew was that once they did it, they'd be so much closer…closer than ever.

She heard a slight knock on her door. She turned around and, to her surprise, found Melchior in her doorway, staring down at her.

"What are you doing? You know you're not allowed in here." She jeered at him.

"I know, but…" he quietly slid into the room, going to join her on the bed. "I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"I'm fine…I'm better than ever."

He just smirked at her. "You're nervous, aren't you?" She nodded wordlessly, her fear showing through her face. "Don't worry about it. It's not bad at all. You'll be fine."

She smiled this time and nodded, "Ok…now go before my dad kills you."

He smiled and laughed a little, walking out of the room as quietly as he came in.

* * *

Nine o'clock. She was already at Henry's house. He told her that his parents were out for the night and that it was just them in the house all night. And she was perfectly fine with that. The two of them sat on his bed awkwardly, not knowing what to do to start it off.

"You ok?" Henry asked, looking at her nervous expression. "Having second thoughts?"

"No…I'm just a little nervous. That's all. I still want to do this."

"So…" He started, breaking the awkward silence that followed her last comment. "Should we get started?"

She smiled and leaned in to kiss him gently on the lips, "Yes…"

Her gentle kiss soon got harder and harder, and before long, he was returning it even more passionately than she had, pressing himself against her as together they fell back onto the bed. She had to admit that she felt a little awkward with Henry on top of her, taking her clothes off. She felt so weird when he slipped her shirt and bra off and he just took a moment to examine her body. He kissed her lips, her neck, and a whole bunch of other places.

She loved this new feeling, her heart racing, her adrenaline rushing. She quickly realized that she should help him undress too, as her hands began to work on the buttons of his shirt. Once that had come off, she began to play with the waistband of his jeans, tugging on them, hoping he would help her slide them off. But instead he decided to go for her jeans, quickly undoing the buttons.

"Henry…" she muttered breathlessly as she was finally free from her tight skinny jeans. "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course…" he replied, between kissing her. "And I love you."

"Are you ready for this?"

"Only if you are."

She knew she was ready, but she wanted to make sure he was too. She nodded and told him she was. He just smiled as he kissed her even harder, the real action just starting to begin….

* * *

They both were lying in each other's arms, still breathing heavily together. She had cuddled up to him now, her head lying on his chest. He had his arms around her protectively, like he was shielding her from everything. She just sighed, wanting to take in the moment forever. She was no longer a virgin…she was a woman now.

"I love you so much…" she whispered to him, almost ready to fall asleep.

"I love you more than anything…" he quietly replied holding her closer to him.

"Thank you…for everything…"

"Don't worry about it…I'm just doing my job…"

She was so happy right now that she couldn't even think of the consequences. What if she ended up like Wendla? Pregnant. What would her father do? Would he send her away too? Would he let her stay? She didn't want to think of that…it frightened her too much…

"Henry, I-"

But before she could even finish her statement, the door to his room flew open. There standing in the doorway was a furious Mrs. Davis, walking in on her son and his girlfriend, both completely unclothed, lying in bed together.

"Henry William Davis! What the _hell_ is going on here?"

"M-Mom…" he tried to reason with her. "It's not what it looks like…"

"I think it's _exactly_ what it looks like! What gives you the nerve to-?"

"Don't blame him…" Natalie piped up quietly. "It was me. I talked him into doing it…"

Mrs. Davis just threw her a look that said 'how did I know?' She never really liked Natalie. There was just something about her that was just unappealing and distasteful.

"Nat, don't…" Henry tried to stop her, but she just kept on going.

"He didn't want to…but I persuaded him to do this, so it's really my fault."

Mrs. Davis look a bit satisfied with her answer as she went to leave the room. "I'll be right back. When I get back here, I expect the both of you to be fully clothed."

They both sort of nodded quickly as she darted out of the room.

* * *

Wendla sat at home wondering how it was going for Natalie. She wondered if she was happy still. She wondered if she was disappointed. But all that wondering came to an end when the phone rang in the kitchen. Seeing no one else around, she went to go and answer it.

"Hello?"

"Who is this?" an unrecognizable voice spat. It was a woman's voice.

"Wendla. Who is this?"

"Never mind…is Dan Goodman there?"

"Yes. Would you like me to get him?"

"Yes…."

Wendla placed the phone down on the kitchen table and went to go and get Dan, who was in the living room with Melchior, just chatting. He quickly got up and darted over to the phone, answering hastily.

"Hello?"

"Dan?" the woman's voice rang again. "This is Margaret Davis, Henry's mother."

"Oh. Hi. How are you?"

"Not so well. Do you know where your daughter is right now?"

He could feel the butterflies starting in his stomach. "Yes. She's with her friend."

"Guess again. I came home tonight to find your daughter and my son both completely naked lying in bed together."

He took a moment to control his temper. "But how can that be true, if she-?"

"She was lying to you. She was here the whole night, having sex with my son. And she really was. She told me that it was her idea in the first place. She talked him into it. He did he right thing and opposed it…but he was just as stupid and gave in."

Dan was just frozen in the kitchen. How could this have happened? Natalie wasn't having sex…she just turned seventeen. She told him she was going over an old friend's house. She never mentioned Henry is this whole mix. _You stupid asshole, _he thought to himself. _You missed the signs! You tried to get her to take Wendla but she said she needed to go alone. You wondered why she didn't pack much. This is all your fault! _

But he was pissed as well. She lied to him deliberately. She knew where she was going the whole time. He was just an obstacle in her way.

"I'm so sorry about this, Margaret, I am. I don't know where this came from."

"But aren't you housing an already pregnant girl? It seems like this sort of behavior would be expected."

Now he was really pissed. "Are you trying to say that I'm a bad parent?"

"Overall, yes."

He didn't want to talk to her anymore. He wanted Natalie home and that was it. "Do you want me to pick her up?"

"Yes, please."

He nodded and just sad, "Ok." and hung up the phone.

Oh, was Natalie in for it…


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: sorry this is so short! i'm soooo tired! Ok!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

Natalie and Henry both still sat there in shock on his bed. How could this have happened? Everything was going perfectly, everything was planned out. And they were found.

"I'm so sorry about this..." Henry muttered quietly, kissing the top of her head repeatedly.

"No...don't be...It was my fault" she said confidently, placing a kiss on his still-bare chest. "I ratted us out..."

"Don't worry about the blame...we should probably get dressed before my mom kills us." She giggled and leaned over the side of the bed, grabbing her clothes off the floor as he did the same. She noticed that they were acting different around each other. She was more relaxed and laid back, and so was he. Maybe it did change their relationship...maybe they were really closer.

Just as she finished buttoning her jeans back up, the door quickly opened. They thought it was Mrs. Davis coming back to scold them, but it was anyone but her. It was Dan.

"Dad " Natalie asked frantically, seeing her father in the doorway. "Wh-What are you doing here?"

"Henry's mother called me and told me you were over here. Completely unclothed with your boyfriend." She could tell he was angry. Whenever he got pissed at her for anything and he found out Henry was involved, he would never refer to him by his name. Just 'the boyfriend.' "I thought you were going over your friend's house?"

"Well, um...actually-"

"But if you were how did you end up here?"

"D-Dad. I-!"

"Natalie, you've lied to me for the last time! I will NOT stand for this anymore!" She tried to think of something to say back but nothing came to her. She was in for it.

"Mr. Goodman, it's not that big of a deal." Henry chimed in, trying to be comforting. "I mean, you must've known the day was coming when she-"

"Henry, stop." Natalie scolded him angrily.

"All she wanted was for us to get closer. That was it. She hated us fighting. I know her and it-"

"What do you know about her?" Dan angrily spat at the boy, who backed off, rather intimidated. Dan just couldn't accept the fact that his daughter's boyfriend knew more about her than he did. He felt so ashamed. If he would've just talked to her, none of this would've ever happened.

He just sighed and threw Natalie an angry glare, whispering, "Let's go, Nat..."

She was reluctant to go, longing to just disappear. She knew she wouldn't be seeing Henry any time soon so she took her time and and kissed him, quietly whispering in his ear, "I'm so sorry..."

He tried to hold onto her but she pulled back, allowing herself to go with her father. She felt awful about herself. She felt awful for hurting her father, betraying Henry, everything. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to be invisible.

* * *

The car ride home was completely silent, the awkwardness taking over. Dan knew that if he was going to scold Natalie, he'd do it inside. And she seemed nervous, like she knew she had something coming. He was glad that she was feeling guilty about this, that she realized what she did. But he also didn't want to hurt her anymore. She was upset as it was, her mother gone, fights with her cousin, her boyfriend. that's all she really needed was more attention.

Once they got home, Natalie took a seat at the kitchen table and just waited for her lecture to begin.

"Natalie..." he sighed, his head falling into his hands. "Why would you do something like that?"

"What? Lie?"

"Yes, but why would you just go ahead and have sex? You know that it's wrong to have sex before marriage, so unless you and Henry are married, you need to explain why you were there tonight."

How could she possibly tell him? _Oh, it's ok Dad! i didn't want to be a virgin anymore, so my boyfriend slept with me!_ No! She had to think of a better reason... "Dad...ok. we were having sex. BUT you have to understand why! I didn't want to be a prissy virgin anymore! I wanted to lose it! And it only felt right if I lost it to Henry. Not to mention that I believe that we're far enough in our relationship that we can trust each other like that...don't you agree?"

He just sighed, not knowing what else to do. "No. I don't agree. I think it's wrong. I think you should've waited. I think what you did tonight was stupid."

"Oh, so now you're calling me stupid?"

"If you're gonna keep that up, then yes. You're stupid. But if you decide to be smart and wait again, then you have some sense in you."

She angrily got up from the table as she shouted at him, "Well, thanks! That's all I needed!"

"Nat, I didn't mean it like that!"

"Fuck you!" and she angrily ran up the stairs, practically crying until she reached her room, falling over onto her bed. She just seemed to comfort herself, just like always...until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She knew it was Wendla right away. She quickly accepted the girl's gesture and kept on crying.

"Are you ok, Natalie?" Wendla asked, sitting next to her weeping cousin.

"N-No..." Natalie cried. "I-I was finally h-happy...and he had to t-take that away from me..."

"Who?"

"My father..." She felt Wendla pull her into an embrace quickly, hushing her as the tears came harder. "It was so perfect...I never thought I loved a person that much. And then my Dad showed up and ruined everything."

"Well, at least you have a father who cares. At least your father's not like Martha's." Natalie nodded, but ended up crying yet again as Wendla took her into her arms and comforted her. "I promise that everything will be fine...It will all get better..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Henry was suffering the consequences of his own parent: his mother. She just stood in his doorway angrily, waiting for him to explain himself. But he wouldn't and she would get furious.

"Henry, why would you even agree to something like that?"

Well..." he began, pissed. "Because I love my girlfriend...And I wanted her to be happy."

"So this is about the _girlfriend?"_

He just threw her a straightforward stare. "Well, yeah. Who else would it be about? You?"

Mrs. Davis threw him a very angry glare and scolded. "Enough with the sarcasm. Tell me why."

"She wanted to do it. And I let her. She wanted us to get closer, EMOTIONALLY. She wanted us to build out relationship back up again. Mom, it's been a whole month since I even talked to her! I missed her and she wanted me secretly. So we met up yesterday and she told me that she wanted to lose her virginity to me. Only me. No one else. And I said yes."

"But _why?_ Didn't you realize that you were doing something awful? Did you even wonder about what she was thinking? Maybe she didn't feel well when she told you. Maybe it was a mistake! Henry, you don't know what you just got yourself into! What if she's pregnant. Huh? How will you support her?"

He didn't even pause to think. He knew he'd do anything for Natalie, whenever. "I'll do whatever it takes to support her. I'll get a few jobs, and I'll go to college and I can get a realy job and support her. Mom, I'm not that stupid, ok? I love her more than anything else and I don't wanna see her hurt."

Mrs. Davis just sighed. What did she ever do to deserve a son like this? She was so happy about his attitude towards a woman, repsectful and kind. But his outlook on life varried. A lonely, pot-smoking, sexually active boy who would throw away his life for this slut of a girl. If it were any other girl, she'd agree with him in a heartbeat, but Natalie? She couldn't stand her. She was such a bad influence on her son.

"Henry, I'm happy that you want to proect your girlfriend and that you love her, but why does it have to be Natalie? Wouldn't you be happier with another girl? Her cousin is a nice girl...And how about that Lilli Roberts from your English class? She's a nice girl."

"Mom, she's..." he stopped himself before he could spit out a few profanties. "Awful. Natalie is my life. I've been in love with her since the sixth grade, Mom...I can't let her go...Not now..."

He was about to get up and leave, but she pushed him back down. "Henry, I want you home. Don't you dare go out without telling me. Take some time and think about what you did today..."

And with that, she angrily closed the door. But he wasn't going to relfect. No...

He had much bigger plans...


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while…And sorry this chapter is so short…I'm dead tired and I'm starting to get loopy from lack of sleep…So I'm going to bed now!**

**Goodnight! And REVIEW PLEASE!**

School on Monday was plain horrifying. Natalie hadn't seen Henry since that Saturday and he didn't show up early to meet her in the practice room. She didn't see him at her locker greeting her like he always did. She didn't see him at his locker either. Was he ignoring her? Was he mad about what happened? She could only guess as she cautiously walked into class.

But he wasn't there either. _Ok, _she thought. _There's something wrong. If he was really mad at me, he wouldn't be stupid enough to cut class….Right?_ She didn't know if she was right or not. He didn't show up. Wendla quickly walked into the room and sat over by Natalie, thinking the same exact thing.

"Where is he?" she asked, looking a bit concerned. "He's always here before me…"

Natalie just shrugged, trying to hide the fear in her face. "I dunno…He's not here…"

All of the sudden a loud, over the top gasp was heard coming from Lilli's corner of the room. And of course, it was Lilli herself.

"Well, Goodman, where's your boyfriend?"

"Just stop…" Natalie retorted, trying not to let Lilli see her afraid like this.

"I heard that you two finally lost your virginity…And got caught…And then he disappeared. Huh, funny…How come he didn't tell you where he was going?"

"I-I don't know…"

Lilli did her gasp yet again. "Maybe he was finally getting sick of your crap…And he's out there on his own now…Probably so stoned that he can't even think straight…"

"Stop…"

"Completely drunk in some cheap hotel room, feeling up some slut he met on the street-"

"JUST STOP, OK?" Natalie furiously got up from her desk, grabbed onto Lilli's shoulders and threw her against the wall.

"Natalie!" Wendla cried, trying to stop this from happening.

The whole room got dead silent. "YOU DON'T KNOW HIM LIKE I DO! YOU DON'T!" She moved threateningly closer to the now intimidated girl. "So shut the fuck up, and leave him alone."

Lilli's frightened face soon turned into a smirk as she heard the teacher's footsteps coming closer to the room. She knew she could time this perfectly.

"Well, you know, whatever _does_ happen to him…You know it's your fault. You're the one who talked him in to it…You're the one who wanted to do it so badly…"

Without even thinking, Natalie pinned the girl to the wall angrily, just shouting, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU'RE SUCH A FUCKING BITCH!"

"Natalie!"

She just froze up completely, slowly letting go of Lilli. It was the teacher, who had just walked into the room. Lilli's plot succeeded. He looked absolutely horrified that one of his students, one of his _best_ students, would do something like that.

"Natalie, what the hell is going on?" He yelled, throwing his stack of papers onto his desk. But instead of saying anything, she just burst into tears, pushing Lilli away from her. "Answer me!"

"I…I…"

He just sighed and told her, "Would you two like to work this out with the principal?"

"No!" She just shouted again. "No…I just…My…I lost someone…and 'innocent' little Lilli over here decided it would be cute to make fun of me for it."

Lilli looked hurt and used, even though everything Natalie said was true. She guessed that those acting lessons really paid off. "I'm offended, Natalie! I know you don't like me, but that was too far…"

Natalie just looked around in disbelief, as the teacher beckoned her forward. She reluctantly walked up, receiving evil glares from her classmates.

The teacher sighed again and whispered, "Look, I know what it's like to lose someone close to you-"

"No! That's not what I meant! Someone's gone-!"

"Alright, I think that's enough. Detention after school today. Ok?"

She nodded and quietly walked back to her seat. A whole hour after school? She had to look for Henry. She wasn't going to sit back in detention while he could be dying on the streets somewhere.

So as the day went on, she kept trying to think of ways to get out of detention. When finally, the idea hit her. Melchior, who had been completely bored in his Latin class, decided to forge a note for her to get out. She quickly thanked him and when she gave the note to the moderator, she just shrugged and let the girl go on her way.

Natalie just ran out of the building and over to her car, waiting for Wendla and Melchior to join her. But she noticed something on the windshield. Something that wasn't there before. It was a little note, she saw. She went to go grab it and open in as she read,

_Nat,_

_I'm sorry I took off so soon. I want you to know that I'm safe and that I'm nearby. If you need me whenever, just ask Holly. _

_Love,_

_Henry_

She stared at the note once again before a huge smile spread across her face. "I think we might've found him…"

"Really?" Melchior asked, hopping into the backseat. "Where?"

"With Holly!"

"Who's Holly?" Wendla asked this time, somewhat confused.

"Henry's sister. She's got this cheap apartment, it's hard to miss."

And soon the three of them were speeding off into the distance.

* * *

Meanwhile, Henry had only woke up three hours ago, around noon. He loved being able to sleep in here. He ran away from home. He couldn't deal with his mother anymore. So he decided to move in with his sister.

He got up out of bed only to be greeted by the familiar scent of thick smoke lining the walls of the apartment. _Home sweet home…_ he thought, going to join his sister Holly in the kitchen. The thing about Holly was that she was just like him when it came to bad habits. She was a pothead herself, being the one who got him started in the first place.

Holly was already cooking lunch when she noticed her little brother coming out of his room.

"God, I'm so hungry right now…" he muttered, practically falling asleep at the kitchen table.

"Well, too bad…" she replied with a smirk. "You're a little late for that. You'll just have to wait until lunch is done."

He nodded and went to go grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He couldn't believe where he was so far…His mother never called him to see where he was or if he was ok. She hadn't even informed Holly that Henry was missing. But the worst he felt was about Natalie.

He left her hanging…He was a coward and he ran. _But you didn't leave her. You're just living somewhere else and you couldn't tell her at first. _He wondered what she would've done at school today. He wondered if she missed him, or if anyone else even noticed that he was gone.

But as soon as those thoughts crossed his mind and as if on cue, the doorbell rang quickly. Holly sighed as she went to go and open the door.

"What?"

But what she saw was a big surprise. It was Natalie. "Hi, Holly. Is Henry here?"

The older girl just nodded as she led Natalie inside, but she was closely followed by Wendla and Melchior, who were both examining the filthy apartment. But Henry was there, he didn't even know that it was Natalie at the door, so she quickly ran up to him and tapped his shoulder, kissing his cheek softly.

"Henry, we need to talk."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Again…another short chapter…sorry…This one's a filler for what's to happen next. Next we'll skip ahead a few months so this story won't be like 30 chapters. It's officially gonna be my longest one! Yay!**

**Ok!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

Wendla had been worried about Natalie all day. She didn't know what was wrong. Was she upset? Was she angry? Did she have a bad experience with Henry? Or was she hurting? She didn't know and she was too afraid to ask.

She watched her cousin slowly approach her boyfriend as Holly tapped her shoulder. She shot around and looked at the older girl, who was smirking.

"You may want to turn around. This could get ugly."

Wendla was confused. Ugly? They were just talking about why he left. How could that get ugly?

"They seem perfect together." she said, voicing her opinion. "I don't see how it could get that ugly."

"Trust me. It can." Holly walked over towards Wendla and Melchior and sat down carefully. She seemed to clutch her stomach, quite like Wendla did. "So…who are you two?"

Wendla didn't even think to answer. She just kept staring at the girl's stomach.

"You ok there?" Holly asked, getting her attention back.

"I'm sorry…" Wendla apologized quickly. "If you don't mind me asking, are you…pregnant?"

The older girl looked around to see if Henry had heard her. She was relieved as she found out that he didn't. She just went to explain. "Well, yeah…but my brother doesn't know. I don't want him to know. I don't want him to have to worry about me, you know?"

Wendla nodded. She wondered if she felt the same way about Melchior. She wondered if she regretted telling him that she was pregnant. Because he worried about her and she didn't want him to have to worry.

"I'm pregnant too." She smiled at Holly, happily. "I'm Wendla Bergman."

Wendla held her hand out to the girl as she took and it. "Holly Davis."

Wendla looked over at Melchior who had been rather quiet for the past few hours. She knew something must be wrong. He was never silent. Unless he had a problem. Did he have a problem?

"This is Melchior Gabor, the father." Wendla introduced, hoping Melchior would speak up. But he didn't. "Melchi, what's wrong?"

"Nothing…" he muttered silently.

"Are you sure? You don't want to talk about it?"

"I'm fine, Wendla, really. Don't worry about me."

She nodded and went back to talking to Holly. But in reality, Melchior was anything _but_ fine…

* * *

Henry practically jumped as Natalie kissed him and whispered to him. He didn't expect her to find him so quickly. He expected her to wait days. But she apparently missed him.

"Nat, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to find you…" she said quietly, kissing him again.

"Why?"

"Why'd you leave?"

He just sort of froze up, not really wanting to tell her. But if she went through this much trouble to find him, he guessed he could tell her anyway. "I couldn't spend another day in that hellhole I called home. Not after what happened. My mom doesn't trust me. She doesn't think I can take care of myself. So I ran away. I wanted to prove to her that I have some common sense, that I can fend for myself. So I ran here. I knew Holly wouldn't mind if I moved in with her, and I knew I'd be safe here. So I moved in."

She looked a little bit hurt. All this was about him. Proving himself. What about her? "Did you think about me when you did this?"

"Of course I did. Nonstop. I wanted to make sure I was somewhere where you could find me. And I left you that note so you could. I moved in so that we could have a better life together, with no one to scold us for doing the wrong thing, just me and you…" he kissed her on the lips passionately. "Alone…together…"

She pulled away from him quickly. "No…this is wrong. Henry, I need to go back. I can't stay here…I'm sorry."

He quickly grabbed onto her arm and pulled her closer to himself. "At least stay now. I want you, Natalie….so much…"

"Do you want me or do you want the sex?"

He froze and shot her a glare of disbelief. "What? Of course I want you. That's so stupid to even ask. Why would I-?"

She averted her eyes from his, now staring down at the floor. "You've been acting different since we did it…I don't know what you want anymore…"

He silently wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "I'm not any different. I want you…I've always wanted you. But right now it's about me and you. We don't have a lot of time together."

She knew what he was hinting at. He did want to have sex with her. She didn't know he'd want to take it this far. But she found a way to get out of it.

"I can't, Henry."

"Why?"

"I have Wendla with me. I can't just leave them here while we go off and bang each other."

He seemed to understand her reasoning. But he was persistent. "This weekend then."

"Henry-"

"No! I'm not saying I want to have sex! I just wanna be with you. I love you so much, you know that I do. I want to see you this weekend. That's all. I promise."

She just gave in and nodded accepting his invitation. "Ok…Fine. But are you gonna be in school tomorrow?"

"I dunno…We'll see what happens."

She scooted closer to him this time, wrapping his arms around her. "Please come. I did something stupid today and I can't go through it alone."

"What did you do?"

"I threw Lilli Roberts against a wall and threatened her…"

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Of course. Why?"

"Because she was making fun of me because you were gone."

He nodded and kissed the top of her head gently. "Ok. I'll come. And leave the beating up to me. You need a clean record, Miss Ivy League."

She giggled and kissed him back, a little sad to be letting him go. "Thanks…I have to go, anyway. I think Wendla's about to throw up again. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course."

She smiled and quickly got up and brushed herself off. "I love you."

"I love you too."

He kissed her one more time, before he walked her to the front door, where she met up with Wendla and Melchior. She didn't really want to leave, but she had to. She said her goodbyes to Henry and his sister and she was off, heading home.

While in the car, Wendla was nonstop chatting about her and Holly.

"She's nice, actually. I like her. You know, she's pregnant too-!"

"Holly's pregnant?" Natalie asked in a bit of shock. "Why didn't Henry tell me?"

"Well…she didn't tell him either. She doesn't want him to worry about her."

Natalie just let her words soak in. She didn't want him to have to worry about her. She felt it kind of funny.

She only wished she could do the same for him.

**A/N: Awful ending…hehe…sorry…**

**Reviews?**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Alright! Before we start, a warning to all the Melchi/Wendla fans out there!**

**PLEASE DON'T HUNT ME DOWN AND KILL ME!**

**MELCHI IS GRIEVING AND HE IS LETTING HIS EMOTIONS GET THE BEST OF HIM! **

**But yeah…a little Melchi-attempted-action warning!**

**I have two references! **

**An obvious RENT reference and a sorta vague Spring Awakening reference! Whoever finds them both gets a miniature Henry!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

Two whole months had passed. Natalie and Henry continued to see each other. But considering that he lived so far away now, it was difficult for them to get together outside of school. Wendla had been getting bigger, already in her fifth month. She constantly wrote her friends, explaining the changes that were happening to her, getting prepared for the baby. She was excited now more than ever before. She could feel the baby moving and kicking constantly. She would always have her hand on her stomach, waiting to feel that her baby was thriving.

Everything was going perfectly for the both of them….

They were at lunch one day, eating, talking as usual. Wendla would always throw an angry glare over towards Lilli and her crew every time she walked past them. She couldn't stand the girl…So she was startled out of her thoughts as she heard Henry slam his book down onto the table.

"What's _your_ problem?" Natalie asked, trying to tease him.

"N-Nothing…just haven't been having a good day…" was all he said back.

"Aww…why?"

He shrugged and tried to explain. "Well, I woke up this morning, went to get ready, you know. The phone starts ringing. So, naturally, I pick it up. It was my sister's boyfriend yelling, saying something about he regrets that she's the one carrying his child, then I hung up." he took a moment to sigh angrily. "She's pregnant and she didn't even tell me!"

"She still hasn't told you?" Wendla asked, before her hands quickly covered her mouth, realizing what she said,

"You _knew_?"

"Yes…Oh, but please don't be angry with me! She didn't want you to know…she didn't want you to have to worry about her…You have to think about how she feels, Henry. Put yourself in her shoes. Or mine even. Would you want that?"

He paused for a moment and she knew that he was thinking. He finally nodded and sighed, "Yeah…you're right…I'm sorry…"

She just smiled at him, "Don't apologize to me…apologize to her."

He nodded, smiling now. Natalie was surprised. It was the first time she saw him smile all day. She was sort of glad that Wendla did that. She looked over at Melchior, who had been surprisingly quiet lately. She noticed that he had a bit of a jealous gleam in his eyes as he watched Wendla talk to Henry.

"Are you ok?" she asked him, trying to get him out of the daze.

He sort of snapped out as soon as she had spoke up. "Yes…Sorry…today's not a good day…"

"Aww…you're having problems too? Maybe you should go talk to Wendla, the future therapist."

"I…I'd like to, but…I just don't want to talk about it…"

"Why? What happened?"

He sighed and then said mournfully, "My best friend died six months ago."

Wendla stopped what she was doing and went to face Melchior as soon as he said that. Her face looked like his: sad, mournful, and upset. She gently placed her hand on top of his and just whispered, "It's been six months?"

He nodded, picking her hand up and kissing it gently. "Yes…six months…"

"Poor Frau Stiefel must be so upset back home…"

"Who died?" Henry asked, wanting to be informed so he didn't feel like a creep listening in on their conversation.

"Our friend, Moritz Stiefel…" Wendla explained, a tear or two in her eyes. She leaned against Melchior sadly. "Oh, poor Moritz…"

"Poor Martha Bessell…" he said, kissing her forehead. "She had feelings for him, you know…"

"I-I know…she told me in her last l-letter…" Wendla was crying now, holding onto Melchior for dear life. "Oh, Melchi…" she whispered, hiding her face in his shoulder.

"I'm sorry…" Natalie whispered, trying to bring some comfort into the conversation. She noticed that Henry's hand was on Wendla's shoulder. She didn't have a problem with it, she knew it was his way of comforting the sobbing girl. But Melchior did. He pulled Wendla away from Henry and held her in his arms.

Right before anyone could say anything, though, the bell rang for class to start up again.

The last class of the day was gym. They just started to play basketball, a sport that none of them were good at. But everyone showered and changed and met outside of the gym to talk with their friends.

"What's with him today?" Henry asked Natalie, glaring over at Melchior.

"I dunno…maybe he's just upset…"

"Did you see what he did at lunch? I mean, he's got some, like, jealousy issues or something."

She sighed and quickly reminded him, "The guy lost his best friend half a year ago…give him a break."

"I should, shouldn't I…." he said thoughtfully. "But I don't want to…."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Of course….Typical Henry…" she smiled, hoping that he would too. She watched as his face cracked a small grin. She looked down at her stuff when she realized, "Crap…I left my phone in the locker room…I'll be back…"

"Want me to help?" he asked her as she walked away.

"No, I've got it…"she said, barely audible as she walked into the locker room.

Henry shrugged and sat against the wall, alone. He felt someone quickly jab his side as he looked up. It was Melchior.

"Where's Natalie?" he asked, glaring down at Henry.

"Locker room….why?"

"I have to talk to her…" and with that he sped up an darted into the locker room, leaving Henry alone out there with Wendla.

Natalie couldn't seem to find her missing phone. It was there somewhere….she went to look underneath a bench when suddenly she heard the door open. Gasping, she turned to see who it was who had entered.

It was Melchior. She sort of smiled, being nice to him as he bent down next to her.

"What are you looking for?" he asked, helping her search.

"I lost my phone in here…What are _you_ looking for?"

"If only I knew…" She sort of smiled, not knowing what to say back to that. He got up and began to look around some more. He noticed a bit of a shimmer as he bent down to see what it was. It was her phone. "Oh… Natalie-"

"Yes?" he heard her call from the other end of the room.

Without thinking, he stuffed the phone into his pocket and made up an excuse. "Oh, it's just a…um…a candy bar wrapper…"

"How do you mix up a phone and a candy bar?" she asked, giggling.

"It's not impossible…"

She slowly made her way over towards him, hoping to cover more ground. "I swear it was right here…" she said, bending down to look under the bench. Nothing. But as she came up, she found Melchior unsettlingly close to her. She quietly mumbled an apology under her breath as she tried to walk away…but he grabbed onto her hand and kept her there.

"What are you doing?" she asked, a little scared.

"What do you see in that boy?" He asked, moving in closer.

"Henry? I dunno…he's nice to me-"

"That's all?" he had her backed against the wall now. "I can be so much better…I can respect you…" he leaned in so close that his lips were barely touching hers. "I can love you…"

She turned away from him, hoping he would stop. "Is this about today?"

"He stole my Wendla from me! So I'm going to steal something from him…"

"_What?_ No! Melchi, it was a mistake! He doesn't-!"

But it was too late. His lips were already pressed hard against hers, his arms wrapped around her. She tried to scream as loud as she could, but nothing came out. She kicked him, she punched him a few times, squirming like a fish out of water. Anything to get him off of her.

He finally moved his lips from hers to her neck as she tried to reason with him. "M-Melchi, _please_! Please stop! Wendla doesn't love him! She loves you!"

He still refused to listen, his hands now freely roaming her body. She was terrified by now, struck with fear. He touched her in every place imaginable, ignoring her statements, her pleas.

"Melchior, stop! Please! Melchi! STOP!"

His hands had grabbed the hem of her shirt as the door suddenly burst open. She tried to turn away to see who it was. It was Lilli.

She knew she would regret it later, but she tried to call out anyway. "Lilli! Help me! Please!"

Lilli knew that voice. Natalie's voice. She cautiously followed it, afraid to see what was going on. But there in front of her was a terrified Natalie still trying to get an angry-looking Melchior off of her. Without even thinking, she kicked Melchior hard, causing him to remove himself from Natalie. She grabbed onto the terrified girl and dragged her out of the locker room and down the hall to the bathroom.

She watched as Natalie made her way into the bathroom, shaking uncontrollably. She leaned against the wall and just slid down, her head in her hands, her knees pressed to her chest.

"Thank you…" she muttered quietly, not wanting to look at her.

"You're welcome…" Lilli said, going to sit next to her. "What happened in there?"

"I…I don't know…he's jealous of my boyfriend…so he thought it was necessary to make him jealous too. B-But he just hurt me…I mean, he's grieving badly. I know what grief can do to a person…"

"I know too…"

Natalie looked up painfully to the girl. "Why are you being so nice to me? I thought you hated me…"

Lilli just shook her head and explained. "I don't hate you…I'm just…well…jealous."

"Jealous? Of _me?_"

She nodded and continued. "You have a family. My mom died when I was little. My dad didn't take it so well. He, um, how do I put this….Like what Melchior was doing, only all the way."

Natalie froze. She couldn't help but to think of Wendla's friend Martha. "He did that to you?"

"I don't know why…but he did. And then he got remarried. I thought that having a new mother would be better. Maybe she'd protect me…But she didn't…And that was my life from then on. But someone found out and my grandma was given custody. That was my life from then on. That one swim meet…the one where your mom jumped in? I was so jealous. You had a mother who loved you enough to do that-"

"Lilli, it wasn't love…it was her disease…"

"But still! She cared enough to show up and cheer you on! I wanted so bad to be you. And that's why I started acting like that…Because I wanted to be you…but I was me instead."

Natalie couldn't help but to feel bad for Lilli. She felt awful about all the things they'd done to each other over the years. Neither of them deserved that. "I'm sorry…"

"It's ok…"

"I mean, for everything I've done to you…"

"Me too…"

Natalie just smiled a little. "Do you remember when we used to be friends?"

"How could I ever forget?"

"We'd run around the locker room, hiding people's clothes…And that one time we swam with that boy? We both thought he was so cute-"

"So we figured that neither of us could have him!" Lilli finished. "So we pushed him into the water and he couldn't even swim!"

"He was there to meet girls!" the both of them started laughing like they were friends once again. Natalie thought this was perfect…until she remembered. "Oh, God…"

"What?"

"He lives with me…"

"Who?"

"Melchior…"

Lilli knew what she had to do…only she wasn't sure if it would work. "You wanna stay over my place tonight? You know, just in case? It's the weekend anyway…"

Natalie just smiled happily. "I'd really appreciate it…thank you."

"Awesome…" Lilli said, getting up from the floor and helping Natalie up as well. "I'll see you later then!"

"Ok…bye…"

Natalie couldn't believe it…

Maybe Lilli Roberts _wasn't_ the devil's spawn….

**A/N: Awwwww!**

**Reviews?**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hi there! Sorry this took me so long to update! I have soooo much to work on right now!**

**But here's a new chapter! Enjoy!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

Right after school, Natalie darted away from everyone, leaving with Lilli. She thought no one would notice. But they did. Well, at least Henry did. He was confused and worried and terrified. All he saw was a sobbing Natalie being rushed to the bathroom by Lilli and a few minutes later, they came out like best friends. What went on in that locker room?

He looked over to Wendla, who was equally confused as a sore Melchior made his way out of the locker room. He quickly walked over to her, grabbing her hand tightly and dragging her away from Henry.

"Melchi, what's wrong?" she asked as the two of them found themselves outside.

"I want you to stay away from him…" he responded, furious by now.

"But he's my friend-!"

"Just stay away!"

Angrily, she pulled her hand from his grasp and just stopped. "Why? Why should I?"

He just shook his head and continued walking. He seemed to forget that Wendla was even there. She watched him as he crossed the street, just walking away. She didn't know what was wrong with him. She figured he was still probably grieving. Moritz _was_ his best friend since they were little children, playing pirates until the sun set.

She just shrugged it off and went back inside, knowing she needed a ride home. She found Henry walking out towards his car. She knew Melchior wouldn't like it, but she ran up to him anyway.

"Henry?"

He shot around to see Wendla. Only Wendla. He sort of smiled and responded quickly. "Yeah?"

"C-Can I have a ride home? Natalie and Melchi left…"

He nodded quickly. "Yeah…sure…"

And before long, the two of them were in his car, on their way back to the Goodman's house.

* * *

Natalie had been an emotion wreck all afternoon. She was terrified to go home, afraid that Melchior would already be there. She had Lilli come with her to pack some stuff for the sleepover tonight. Lilli said she'd sit in the driveway and call her if she saw anyone enter the house.

But as Natalie threw a few more things together, she quickly heard the door to her room fly open. Gasping, she turned around quickly to see who it was. But it was only Wendla.

"What are you doing?" she asked, wondering why her cousin was packing so much stuff.

"I-I'm staying over a friend's house…"

Wendla rolled her eyes and smiled, "You don't have to lie about having sex with Henry anymore…"

"I'm telling the truth!" Natalie somewhat yelled, completely dead serious.

"Oh…well, why?"

Natalie sighed and fell back onto her bed. Wendla had to know sooner or later. So she began the story…

* * *

Meanwhile, Henry sat in the kitchen, nothing better to do…He saw Natalie's car in the driveway when he dropped Wendla off, so he decided to see her, to see what was going on. He was pretty much alone. Wendla ran up to her room, hoping to find Natalie.

Everything was pure silent…that is, until he heard Natalie's shaking voice coming from upstairs. "L-Look…this is really hard to say…"

"Well, ok." Wendla's voice said sweetly. "Then just go ahead and say it. Get it done fast."

Natalie sighed and whispered quietly. "Don't tell Henry…"

And Henry knew this was the point where he was going to go and listen to this story. He quickly darted up the stairs and sat himself outside her door, listening intently.

"When I went into the locker room today, Melchior followed me. He tried to help me find my phone, but then he got kind of close to me. "

Henry already didn't like the way this was going.

"He told me he was jealous of Henry because he was talking to you. So he kissed me. I told him to stop, but he didn't…" she sighed again, her voice dropping so low that he could hardly hear it. "Wendla, he almost raped me…"

Henry could feel his heart falling. He just froze and realized. It all made sense. Why she ran out so fast, why she ignored him. She was scared. The pity and sympathy he felt for her was soon replaced by a burning hatred for Melchior. He's the one who did this to her. He's the one who tried to hurt her. And he could never forgive that boy for it.

"No…" Wendla muttered, not wanting to believe it. "No, he didn't. You're lying…"

"He would've finished if Lilli hadn't come in. She saved me…we're friends again. She wanted me to stay over tonight because…"

"Because why?"

"Because I'm so scared he'll do it again when he gets home…"

Henry couldn't say she was wrong. He made a mental note to thank Lilli the next time he saw her. But why didn't she want him to know about this? He would've helped her. He would've tracked Melchior down and beaten his sorry ass for her. But instead she turned to Lilli, the girl who made her high school life a living hell.

Wendla took a pause before quietly responding, "So he really did that…"

"Yes…You have to believe me…_Please_ believe me…"

There was another pause and Henry could tell that the two of them were embracing.

"I believe you, Natalie…." Wendla admitted with a sadness in her voice. He could only imagine what she felt like now. Her boyfriend or whatever, the father of her child betrayed her and tried to hurt someone else, and her cousin at that.

But before Henry could even process it, the door to Natalie's room flew open, exposing him to the two girls. Natalie was carrying duffel bag, which she dropped immediately as she saw Henry sitting outside her room, listening in on her conversation.

"Hey, Nat…" he said, smiling sheepishly.

"When did you get here?" she asked, praying he didn't overhear too much.

"When Wendla did."

She sighed, knowing that it was useless playing dumb anymore. "How much did you hear?"

"All of it…"

Automatically, tears formed in her eyes as she collapsed in his arms. She didn't even think about what she was doing. She didn't care how angry she was at him for eavesdropping, she didn't care how miserable she just made Wendla. She was scared and she needed someone to help her. He held her close to himself, hushing her when she sobbed, kissing the top of her head over and over, gently stroking her arm and rubbing her back. She laid her head on his shoulder and just cried. She felt his arms hold her tighter. She never felt so safe before in her life.

"I-I'm so sorry…" she cried into his shoulder.

"Shh…You don't have to be…" he whispered. "It's not your fault at all…"

"B-But…"

"Don't…." She felt him softly stroke her cheek this time. "You didn't do anything wrong. Besides, there's nothing you can do that will make me love you any less…"

She nodded and just fell back into his embrace. She didn't deserve him…He was so good to her…and she betrayed him…

She settled down after a few minutes. She finally grabbed her stuff and began to head out the door. "I have to go…Lilli's waiting for me."

"Ok…" he mumbled, kissing her again. "Call me if you need anything."

She nodded and headed off, leaving him alone with Wendla. He cautiously looked over to her. She was a wreck. She couldn't believe that Melchior would do that…She wanted so bad to start crying as well.

"Are you ok?" he asked her, watching her stunned face still.

"I…I don't know…"

"C'mere…" he quickly threw his arms around her and hugged her. It was no more than a friendly hug, both of them knew that. She just needed someone to comfort her now and the only person around was Henry. This was his way of comforting her…

But they were soon startled by a voice from the doorway.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him."

They both just jumped and pulled away from each other.

There in the doorway was Melchior.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm back again! So..we say goodbye to a character…Guess who?**

**Um, some pretty good fighting in this chapter…INTENSE!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

Wendla could feel her face burning, bright red now. She didn't know if it was from her newly sprung tears or from her anger. But as soon as she saw that it was Melchior in the doorway, she could care less about her burning face. She looked straight into his furious eyes. He wanted her away from Henry. But she wouldn't budge.

"I said get away!" he shouted at her.

She flinched slightly and just went to hide behind Henry, her arms wrapped tight around him like he was a teddy bear, concealing her face from the both of them.

"WENDLA BERGMAN! DO YOU HEAR ME?"

"Yes…" she mumbled, hiding her face still.

"Then come here."

She quickly shook her head, praying he wouldn't blow up in her face. She pressed herself harder against Henry, afraid that if she let go, Melchior would be there. She began to just cry into his shoulder, absolutely terrified. She felt him gently place his hand on top of hers in an attempt to comfort her.

"Melchi…" she whispered. "Why?"

"Why what?" he asked angrily.

"Why did you try to hurt Natalie?"

He sighed furiously and answered plainly. "I didn't."

"But she came home crying-!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"I think you did…" It was Henry who spoke up this time. Wendla was even more terrified by now. She knew the two boys hated each other and this was only going to end badly.

"Really? Well prove it." Melchior sneered, staring down the other boy.

"She left school crying! She's terrified that you'd hurt her again! She won't even come home! If that's not something, then-!"

Melchior just reached out and shoved Henry to the ground. "What do you know?"

"Melchi!" Wendla shouted at the atrocity that was unfolding in front of her.

She watched Henry dart back up and push him against a nearby wall. "That you hurt my girlfriend."

"Henry, stop!" Wendla cried again, backing up from where the fight was happening.

"Maybe she was lying to you…" Melchior suggested with a devious smirk. "Maybe she liked it…"

"SHUT UP!" Henry this time punched Melchior in the gut, causing him to sort of crumple up.

But he still taunted. "Are you afraid that she may have _liked_ it? That maybe she felt that pleasure with me, not you? Are you really that selfish?"

Henry punched the boy again, trying to tell himself not to believe him. "JUST SHUT UP!"

But without warning, it was Melchior who kicked Henry down this time. "Now you know how I feel…"

He was about to throw a huge punch at the boy when he felt someone grab onto his arm, preventing him from doing so. He looked up only to see that it was Wendla. She looked worried and panicked.

"I'll go…" she whispered.

"What?"

"I'll go with you…Just stop…"

She waited until he got up and away from Henry to remove his arm from her grip. He grabbed onto her hand and was about to drag her out when the two of them were suddenly stopped by a shout from Henry, who was still in pain on the ground. "Can you imagine what your friend is thinking of you now?"

Melchior stopped to face him. "What?"

"Almost raping a girl, beating up some guy you thought you thought you were friends with…Must be brutal for him."

And without even thinking, Melchior ran up to the boy on the ground and just began to beat him mercilessly. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT ABOUT HIM! DON'T YOU DARE!"

Wendla screwed her eyes shut, knowing that something violent was happening. She felt awful for Henry, but it was his own fault for bringing up Moritz. They both knew he was still sensitive about his friend's death. But this was too much. She needed to stop this, but neither of them would listen to her. So she ran downstairs to the kitchen, picked up the phone and called Dan.

"Hello?" he answered calmly. Everything must've been fine for him.

"I-It's W-Wendla…" she sobbed into the phone, terrified.

He automatically knew something was wrong. "Wendla, it's ok…What's going on?"

"Th-There's a fight going on u-upstairs…"

"Who's fighting?"

"M-Melchi and Henry…It's awful…There's blood…I can't stop it…I-I tried…"

He sighed, obviously angry at the boys. "Ok. I'll be right there."

"Th-thank you…"

She hung the phone up quickly and ran back upstairs to see the damage done. They were still at it, punching, kicking, shoving, pulling. She could tell that Henry already had a black eye. Absolutely frightened, she ran back down to the living room and tried to console herself, hoping Dan would get home soon…

* * *

Natalie had no idea what was going on at home. She couldn't give a shit either. She was sitting in Lilli's room, trying her hardest to watch the movie the Lilli had put in. It was _Saw._ She sort of wondered why they were watching a horror movie, especially after all that happened today.

"I like watching these kinds of movies on a bad day…" Lilli explained, practically reading her mind. "It makes me feel better about my situation. Cuz which would you rather be in? A bad day with a fight with your friends? Or a room where you know you're gonna die within the next thirty seconds?" Natalie smirked a little, showing that she understood, but she didn't really want to say anything. "Are you ok?"

She nodded and answered. "Yeah…I'm sorry…today was just…awful…"

"Yeah it was…"

Natalie chuckled a little and thought out loud, "Why are we watching this anyway?"

"It's like an actual sleepover. Watch scary movies, pig out, gossip…"

"Really?"

Lilli looked down at her like she just told her that pigs could finally fly. "Yeah…Why?"

"I haven't been to a sleepover since the eighth grade. Someone had one for all the girls in the grade at the end of the year. I showed up and was literally told to turn around and go home. Then the girl's mother came in the picture and told me to stay, even though I didn't want to. It was just…bad."

Lilli couldn't help but to feel bad for the girl. Her entire life had been awful. She never had any real friends. One moved away and the other, which was Lilli, turned the entire grade against her. She was glad to be building up this bond with her again."I'm sorry…" Lilli said apologetically.

"It's ok…Really. So…you mentioned gossip. You have any?"

She laughed and just sort of shook her head. "Not really. But how about we tell each other a secret."

"Doesn't leave this room?"

"What happens here, stays here."

Natalie nodded quickly. "Ok. You first."

"I lie about how I lost my virginity. I tell everyone that it was with Charlie Jacobs, you know, the quarterback on the football team? When in reality, I never slept with him. I never slept with anyone. I lost it to-"

"Your father…"

Lilli nodded and sort of sighed. "Yeah…You go."

Natalie sighed. What kind of a secret could she tell? They seemed to be taking the sex route. But for some odd reason, Lilli already knew about her sex life. Her pathetic sex life. So it came to her.

"Ok. You know how my brother's dead? Well, last year, I got into a fight with my mom and it was bad…Then I swear I heard a voice telling me to lay off her because it wasn't her fault. I got scared. I thought I was crazy or something. So I ran off to this club. I got like completely stoned. Met this guy, he bought me a drink. God, we go SO drunk…We went outside and I passed out in the snow. Just laid there unconscious all night…U-Until Henry came, at least…"

Lilli smiled a little. She did have it bad. Drugs and alcohol bad. "You like him, don't you?"

Natalie nodded, smiling, thinking of how he was comforting her earlier. "Of course. He's perfect…"

"He seems like he'd do anything for you…"

She looked up at Lilli and shrugged. "He would."

* * *

"What the fuck were you two thinking?" Dan yelled angrily. When he got home he managed to pull the two boys away from each other, stopping the fight. He now had them in the living room. Melchior was limping and had multiple bruises covering his body. Henry, however, got the worse end. He had a swollen black eye, a bloody lip, a bloody nose, and cuts and bruises everywhere imaginable.

"Well?" Dan demanded again.

"Mr. Goodman," Henry started, in pain from just talking. "You have to understand…"

"Understand what?"

"He…He tried to hurt Natalie…"

Dan knew it was a serious matter as soon as it concerned his daughter. "What do you mean?"

"He almost rap-!"

"I didn't do a thing!" Melchior yelled, interrupting the other boy. "_He's_ the one who started it! He brought up my friend. He's been dead for six months now…"

Dan looked cautiously over to Henry, who stared in disbelief. "Henry?"

"Well, don't you think it would a little disappointing on his part to know that his friend tried to rape a girl today?" He stated blatantly.

This was where Dan drew the line. All he needed to hear was 'rape' and 'Natalie' in the same context and he was done hearing these testimonies. He finally turned to Melchior and just stated, "You tried to rape my daughter?"

But he refused to agree. He kept on fighting. "I didn't do anything!"

"Shut up!" Henry shouted, fearing another punch in the face. "Don't act like you're so innocent! We all knew what happened! She told me herself! You attacked her!"

"I said I didn't do anything! He's lying!"

Dan looked at the two boys. One had been accused of hurting his daughter, the other was trying to help. He knew where his loyalties laid. And that was with Henry. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to ask you to leave." he said calmly to Melchior.

"Wh-What?"

"I don't want you living here anymore."

"Why?"

He sighed and then explained, "You seriously hurt my daughter. And by doing that, you've hurt this family. And that includes Wendla. So for the safety of my girls, I want you out."

Melchior was speechless. He looked evilly from Henry then to Dan and finally to Wendla, who was still crying on the couch. His face softened as he realized how much he hurt her. He wanted to tell her that it wasn't his fault…he just wanted things to go back to the way they were. No baby on the way, Moritz still alive…that's all he wanted. So without saying anything he turned around and left the house.

Wendla looked up as she heard the door slam. That was it…her only chance of raising this baby…and he was gone. She was on her own now. She just began to cry again, losing all hope. But despite the severe pain he was in, Henry found his way over to Wendla and sat next to her on the couch, rubbing her back gently.

"You ok?" he asked as she cried harder.

"N-No…I'm all a-alone…I can't r-raise this baby alone…."

He grabbed onto her hand and whispered. "You're not alone. You have us. We're your family…We'll help you through this…"

She nodded and cried some more, "But I'm s-so scared…"

"Shh…you don't have to be…it's gonna be ok…"

She nodded as he got up cautiously o head back over to the chair he was sitting in. "Wait! Henry?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Ok! More! I have several people to thank, but their thanks comes more for the next chapter…but I'll just save them…;D**

**Ok! SO we're gonna finish up soon! Soooo…read on!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

It had been three months since Melchior left. He hadn't contacted Wendla. He seemed to just disappear off the face of the planet…And truthfully, it didn't seem like anyone had a problem with that. Wendla was eight months pregnant by now. She was pretty much immobile now, her weight put so much pressure on her normally slender body. But she would still go to school, she'd try to do everything as best as she could.

Natalie, on the other hand, couldn't say she was doing any better. She was cautious now. She'd have Henry at her side more than usual, both because she needed him and because he wanted to. He didn't want to be the overprotective boyfriend again, like he was last year. But he had to know that she was safe. It's not like things were any different…Except for replacing Melchior at the lunch table was now Lilli. She'd been accepting into the little group after what she did that day. The day that none of them would talk about.

* * *

Natalie and Wendla were just sitting in their room, doing homework as usual. Wendla found the silence between them just plain awkward.

So she quickly spoke up, "You know…I still don't have a name picked out…"

Natalie looked up from her homework for a moment. "What?"

"For the baby…"

She shrugged and turned back to her giant Physics book. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Wendla looked at her cousin like she was insane. "How would I know?"

"You didn't get an ultrasound?"

"Uh…no."

Natalie just shrugged. "Ok…so narrow it down. Boy names and girl names."

Wendla didn't even have to think before quickly answering, "I want my baby to be named after Moritz."

"Your…dead friend?"

The girl nodded quickly and explained. "We used to play pirates when we were little…Him and Ilse seemed inseparable…But then we went to different schools. He was a boy, I was a girl. And we didn't really talk after that…"

"Ok…so, names."

"Moritz if it's a boy…" Wendla knew that off the bat. But what about a girl? What if her baby was a girl like her? How could a girl be named after Moritz? "I don't have any for a girl…I guess, if the baby decides to be a girl, I'll come up with it later."

Natalie laughed at her cousin's lack of knowledge in the sex/birthing department. High school health class sure did wonders. "How did your friend die?" She didn't know if it was ok for her to ask this, but she did anyway.

"Moritz?" Wendla looked a little sad as she went to explain. "Well, he killed himself…apparently, he failed school and couldn't be promoted to the upper grade. His father was devastated…S-So he took his own life…I felt so awful…seeing poor Martha crying over the casket, laying a flower on his grave…"

Natalie could tell that this was a sensitive subject for her. She'd been friends with him since they were little…Natalie figured that now was the time to tell Wendla something too.

"Do you know why my mom left?" Wendla shook her head, listening intently. "Well, I had someone die too…My brother."

"Your brother?" Wendla looked miserable as she went to hug Natalie out of sympathy.

"I didn't even know him. He died before I was born. But my mom, she wasn't ready to let go…she…she was grieving…for years…And one day she came running to me saying that my brother was back. I was like four so I believed her and when she showed me where he was I saw nothing. She was diagnosed bipolar depressive…She saw him every day…_every_ day…But she never saw me…I was practically invisible…."

"Oh…"

"She was treated for like sixteen years…And then last spring she finally decided she was done with it…and she left. And I hardly see her anymore."

She felt Wendla's hand on her shoulder as she wiped away the few stray tears that rolled down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's ok…really. It is. I just…never really got over it…"

Wendla watched as another silence feel over the two. She didn't even remember what spurred the conversation…

"What was your brother's name?" she asked randomly, causing Natalie to shoot her head up towards the girl.

"Gabe. Gabriel."

She smiled and sort of whispered. "Like the angel…That's a nice name."

Natalie nodded in agreement as she yawned and muttered, "Ok, I'm going to sleep…Goodnight…"

Wendla smiled and yawned as well, making herself comfortable in her little bed. "Goodnight."

She waited until her cousin fell asleep and then folded her hands in prayer and whispered, "Hello, Moritz. I wish I could write to you too, but…this'll do. How is Heaven, Moritz? Are you safe in the clouds? God smiling over you? Do you think of us often? Do you miss us as much as we miss you? Melchi really misses you…I guess you saw what happened. Why did it have to happen, Moritz? He was sad because you're gone now. I was scared. It was awful. You know what else I'm scared about? My baby. I don't know how to raise a child, and now I must raise it on my own. Will you help me, Moritz? Will you protect me and my child? I miss you. I hope things are well. Love, Wendla."

And with that, she fell asleep.

For a few hours at least. At about two in the morning, she was forcibly woken up by a sudden swift pain from her abdomen. She ignored it and tried to go back to sleep. About two minutes later, the pain came again, this time even worse. She started to get worried now. She couldn't move and she didn't want to wake up Natalie or Dan. They needed their sleep more than anyone else she knew. But what she did find was Natalie's phone sitting next to her bed. So she reached over and grabbed it, the pain coming yet again. And she knew exactly who to call…

* * *

Henry woke up again by the sounds of his sister's crying baby. She gave birth a month ago and from then on, the baby would routinely wake up at two in the morning. And Henry got the worse end of it. He needed sleep. He had too much to worry about during the day. He had to worry about Natalie, he had to worry about Wendla. And now he had to worry about his sister and her baby.

He groaned as the baby's cries only got louder. He wanted so badly to just shut the baby up, but he was too tired to even move. So he sat there and let his sister do it. It had been a long day for him too. He had three tests, a Spanish quiz, and a research paper all due the day before. So he was about to crash…until he heard his phone ringing.

He grabbed it and looked at the number. Natalie. His heart began to pound as he cautiously answered. What if something was wrong? What if Melchior came back? He immediately answered.

"Hello?"

"Henry? It's W-Wendla…"

He sighed with relief as he asked. "Oh. Ok. What's up? Why are you calling so late?"

She sniffled a little. "There's this pain in my abdomen. It hurts so bad…It comes about every minute now."

He tried to think what may be wrong with Wendla…that's when he realized. "Oh…my…God…"

"Wh-What?"

"Get Natalie on the phone. Please hurry."

Wendla nodded and moved over a bit to nudge Natalie awake as she explained that Henry wanted to talk to her.

"What?" she asked, wondering what Henry was even calling for.

"Wendla's in labor."

"_What?_ Now?"

"Yes now!"

She held the phone away from her ear for a second to breathe. How would she tell her dad? How would she even get Wendla out of the house?

"Ok….you think you can come over and help me get her to the hospital?"

"Hospital?" Wendla asked, somewhat alarmed. "For what? I'm not sick…"

"Yeah…" Henry agreed, nodding his head and throwing on a clean pair of jeans and a hoodie. "I'll be there in five minutes."

"Ok…" Natalie sighed, not wondering what to do. "Hurry."

Wendla was frightened now. She had no clue what was going on. "Natalie, what's happening?"

"You're going into labor." Wendla still looked confused. "You're having the baby."

"Now? Oh, I can't have it now!"

But Natalie didn't say a word. She quickly scribbled a note to her dad saying that her and Henry took Wendla to the hospital to deliver the baby. She heard Henry's car roll up into the driveway as she carefully helped Wendla up and led her down to the car.

From what she could tell, this was gonna be a long night.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: This is like the longest chapter of this fic…it's kind of dumb at parts cuz I'm tired and got distracted by Facebook…=(**

**BUT ITS BABY TIME!**

**Thanks to three authors who made this chapter possible!**

**1.) To BluestBlood for the idea of bringing Melchi back (oops! Spoiler!)**

**2.) To Futurestar26 who gave me the name for the baby**

**3.) To Princesshannah12345 for the very encouraging reviews! **

**Thanks guys!**

**REVIEW PLEASE! **

**One more after this…=(**

It had been one hell of a hassle to get Wendla down the stairs and into Henry's beat-up car. She could hardly stand up straight now, the pain was so intense. So she hobbled as best she could, with Natalie and Henry supporting her of course, outside. They gently helped her into the backseat, Natalie joining her to make sure she was ok, while Henry took the wheel and took off.

They were already fifteen miles per hour over the speed limit, even though it felt like they were only doing ten. Wendla was clenching her teeth and trying to stifle a scream as the sharp flash of pain ran through her again. Natalie got the drift and placed her hand on Wendla's shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Henry, can't you go any faster?" She demanded, obvious panic in her voice.

"This is as fast as I can go, Nat. We'll get there soon, don't worry…" he tried to calm everyone down, just knowing the huge amount of tension in the car.

"But she's-!"

"I know…We'll be there in no time, ok?"He turned back to the wheel and continued to drive. Natalie, on the other hand, turned over to Wendla, trying to get her mind off the pain.

"How are you feeling?" she asked feebly, not knowing what else to do.

Wendla tried to get an answer out, but it was muffled slightly. "I-I feel s-so…" But another contraction hit before she could finish.

Natalie couldn't help but to feel bad for her cousin. She didn't know anything about what was happening. She didn't know that having a baby meant intense pain. She didn't know that her contractions were going to get more and more frequent. She didn't know that the pain would only get worse when the baby came.

"A-Are we almost there?" Wendla practically begged, wanting this baby out, once and for all.

"We're close…" Henry explained, quickly beeping at the idiot in front of him who didn't realized the light had changed. "Just a little bit longer…"

She whimpered pathetically and just asked, "How long will this go on for?"

"A few hours."

She looked shocked. Completely and utterly shocked. "_Hours?_ I can't have _hours_ of this pain!" She stopped for another contraction. "It hurts _so _bad…Please…"

"Henry!" Natalie shouted at him, taking her cousin' side on this one. She just looked at him with pity, like she knew exactly what Wendla was going through.

He suddenly just sped up, dodging the few cars that were on the streets this late. The three of them could see the hospital in the distance coming up. They all sighed with relief as they quickly parked and tried to help Wendla out.

"How are we supposed to get her in if she can't walk?" Henry asked somewhat stupidly.

"Go get her a wheelchair!" Natalie shouted back.

He sort of backed off for a second. "Ok! Ok! Jesus, calm down…"

"How am I supposed to be calm at a time like this?"

"If you're worried, then she'll get worried. And we don't need that right now. So just…be calm…"

She slightly nodded as he ran over to the building to get a wheelchair. She looked over at Wendla who was terrified. _Just be calm…_she thought to herself. _That's all I need to do…just calm down…Everything'll be ok…nothing's gonna happen…_

"Natalie…" It was Wendla who called her out of her trance. Henry was back with the chair and the two of them were gently trying to help the girl into it. She finally sat herself down into the wheelchair and they began off.

* * *

Wendla didn't like this hospital room. There was something about it that was intimidating. Maybe it was the sickening smell…or maybe it was the fact that everything in there looked like it had been cleaned and sterilized at least a hundred times. But she was lucky to have a bed with railings on the side. They'd been at it for at least three or four hours now. Whenever a particularly painful contraction hit, she would squeeze onto the bar with all her strength.

Natalie was sitting right next to her, grabbing her hand when she knew it wouldn't be crushed. She didn't know why she was acting so motherly around her now…She seemed like the truthful, trusting mother that Wendla always wanted. And that Natalie never had.

"How bad are they now?" She asked Wendla, obviously referring to the contractions.

Wendla sort of shrugged as best she could, still in awful pain. "Worse…"

"Worse? How much worse?"

She racked her brain and though of the last time Natalie asked that question. "I don't really know…but it hurts bad…"

"Ok…" What she really wanted to say was _God-fucking-dammit! Where the hell is Henry? _

But she had no idea where he ran off to. So it was just her and Wendla.

"Does your papa know we're here?" Wendla asked, like the good girl she always was.

"Yeah…I left him a note…"

"Is he worried?"

"Probably…"

She nodded and revealed to her cousin, "I know this sounds ridiculous, but-!" She paused to let the contraction run its course. "I think of him as my father…Since I didn't have one growing up…And I always thought that having a father would be like Martha. Terrifying and scary and intimidating…But your papa's a good man. He's kind and generous and he loves you with everything he has…"

Natalie just sort of shrugged, not entirely agreeing with what she said. "I guess so…"

After suffering yet another contraction, Wendla asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…it's just…what you said, about my dad…I just…"

But before she could finish, Henry came bursting into the room quickly, looking like he was out of breath. "Hey," he muttered, kissing Natalie's cheek gently. "Anything happen?"

"No…not really…Where were you?"

"Your dad called. He wanted to make sure that you were really at the hospital…"

"Oh…"

He nodded and turned to Wendla who smiled a little, but the smile turned into a quick frown as her entire body filled with pain. "Hey…how are you feeling?"

"Sore…"

He sort of smiled and turned back over to Natalie who was looking a bit upset. He walked over towards her and asked quietly, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" she answered quickly.

"Nat…" He gently placed his hand on her cheek, looking straight into her big brown eyes. "Something's up….You wanna talk?" She silently nodded as the two of the quickly left the room, leaving Wendla alone.

It was about maybe a minute after they left. She suddenly felt a pain that was worse than the contractions she felt before. Much worse. It felt like someone stabbed her with a knife and twisted it around. She just gasped for air, the pain was so intense. So she decided the only thing she could do now was pray.

"M-Moritz, please be listening…I-I need your help. I d-don't know what to do and I'm a-all alone." She paused to breathe, the pain only spreading. "Please watch over me, Moritz…Please watch over my child. Oh God!' she finally cried, not knowing how to deal with the pain anymore. "Please, Moritz…_please…_Take this away from me…It was Melchior's fault! He's the reason I am having this child! It's his fault I'm in pain…Oh, God…" she whispered again, just accepting that she was alone.

* * *

Meanwhile outside the room, Natalie sat in the eerily familiar hospital chair, resting her head against Henry's shoulder and just pouring her heart out to him. She never did that before this…she never wanted him to know that she was vulnerable.

"So tell me what's wrong…" he said firmly, his hand gently brushing against her arm.

"It's just…when I see her there, in that bed? I think of my mom…I wonder if her baby will turn out like my brother…Dead. I couldn't imagine her going through all of that…"

He nodded and kissed her softly, smoothing her hair lovingly as he whispered, "Don't worry…she'll be just fine…"

And she began to believe him. She cried into his shoulder for a while longer and then finally looked up at the hallway in front of her. But the sight that she saw next was just enough to send her to tears again.

"Henry…" she mumbled, incredibly alarmed. She held on tighter to him as his eyes quickly followed to where hers were.

There standing in front of them was Melchior.

Henry let her stay down but as soon as he saw Melchior walking towards them, he was up, his hands already balled into fists.

"I thought you fucking left…" he told him, staring him down challengingly.

"Not yet…" Melchior responded, trying to get away from Henry…but it wasn't working.

"Why the hell are you here?"

"I'm leaving for Germany this evening. I wanted to tell Wendla that I was going. So I called the house and he said she was at the hospital…Having the baby…"

"Stay away from her…"

"Don't you get started again…I can do whatever I want…"

Natalie couldn't watch the two boys fight anymore. She had enough, so she retreated back into Wendla's room. But when she got in, she found Wendla just weeping she was in so much pain.

She rushed to her side and asked, "Wendla? What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I…I don't know…" she just sobbed back.

Natalie just nodded and ran out to get a doctor quickly. She finally found one and rushed him over to Wendla's little room where he examined her quickly. He concluded, "The baby is just about to be delivered."

Both girls couldn't believe the doctor's words. He quickly prepared Wendla for the delivery process while Natalie ran out to a still arguing Henry and Melchior. They seemed to just ignore her.

"Well, I have more say in her life than you do!" Melchior shouted to Henry.

"Guys…" Natalie tried to intervene.

"Well who says you should even have a say?" Henry shouted to Melchior,

"Guys!"

"Well, you should just go-!"

"GUYS!"

Both boys just stopped to look at Natalie quickly. She sighed and revealed, "Wendla's having the baby. Now."

"What?" both boys asked in unison."See how much you miss?"

The three of them began into the room, but were quickly stopped by a doctor. "I'm sorry…only one close family member allowed in the delivery room."

"But she needs us…" Melchior protested.

The doctor turned to Wendla, who was just about to start pushing. "Do you want anyone in the room, sweetie?"

She nodded and barely whispered, "Natalie…"

And so Natalie was forced into the room only to watch her cousin in so much pain.

"If it hurts too much, just squeeze my hand…" she offered, knowing that sure, her hand may be broken, but it was worth it.

The doctor quickly peeked between Wendla's legs that were propped up on the bed. "Ok, so we're gonna start to push now. Ok?" She nodded furiously, just wanting the baby out. "Alright, on three. One, two, and push."

She tried her hardest to push the stupid baby out of her. It was the worst pain so far. So intense that she was practically screaming. And Natalie could feel it by the way she was squeezing her hand. It must've hurt so badly…

"Alright, good girl. Let's do another. One, two, and push again."

She did another one, only this one was the worst. She kept on pushing and squeezing Natalie's hand and screaming and doing it over. After a few more tries, she was worn out. She lost all her energy, she was sore and tired.

"Ok, honey, only about one more push will do it. Ok?"

Wendla nodded and tried to push like she did before but nothing happened…she was too weak…too powerless…

"Hey," she looked up at Natalie, who began to run her shoulders comfortingly. "You can do it…just one more and you'll be done…Just one…"

"J-Just one? That's it?"

"That's it, I promise…"

Despite the fact that she was weak and drenched in sweat and tears, she gathered up the last bit of strength she had left and just gave it the one final push. Wendla's shouts of pain were soon intermixed with the wails of her newborn baby.

She took a deep breath and fell back on the bed, smiling like an idiot.

"See?" Natalie smiled hugging her tightly. "You did it."

"No. _We_ did it…"

The two of them smiled and quickly waited for the baby to be washed up by the nurses in the room. The doctor smiled and handed the baby to Wendla, saying "It's a girl…"

Wendla took the tiny baby into her arms. The little girl was so small and feeble…She had a pair of big round brown eyes, a small patch of light brown hair. She looked just like Wendla. She could hear the baby's cries stopping as she rocked her back and forth gently. The baby cooed happily, knowing that she was safe in the arms of her mother.

"So do you have a name?" Natalie asked, looking down at the little baby."

Wendla thought about what she said earlier that night. About naming it after Moritz. She quickly thought of a girl's name…It was similar, but she loved it…it was beautiful and it fit her baby perfectly.

"Her name is Margrit."

She smiled and gently handed the baby to Natalie who was just overwhelmed by emotions...Wendla loved to see the joy on Natalie's face as she held little Margrit.

So she just thought happily, _thank you, Moritz…_

**A/N: Awwww! Yay!**

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	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: *sniffle* It's the end! The Little Crossover That Could! At first no one reviewed, people were skeptical…We proved to them that it does work! I have you guys to thank for this! Thanks so much!**

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Wendla grinned ear to ear as the baby was placed back into her arms. She gently stroked the tiny mess of hair that was on her head, keeping a watchful eye over her Margrit. She smiled like an idiot, bringing the baby closer to her, kissing her tiny head gently. Natalie darted out of the room to get back to a still-stunned Henry and Melchior.

"She had the baby." she smiled happily. "It's a girl."

"I-I have a girl..." Melchior mused, smiling already.

She nodded and showed them inside the room where Wendla sat still with the baby, smiling as wide as her mouth would let her. She looked up to see Natalie back with Henry…and Melchior. She got a little frightened as she saw him approaching her,

"Wendla…"

She sort of gasped a little and glared at him. "What do you want?"

"I wanted you to know that I was on my way back home…But then you had the baby…" He just shook his head in disbelief. "Can I hold her?"

She nodded and gently handed Margrit over to Melchior. She didn't understand why she was so afraid to let him hold her baby. It was his child too. He helped to create it, he deserved this. He was the father.

She watched carefully as he looked into the baby's brown eyes. She watched a smile be painted over his face. His daughter bringing so much joy to him. He stroked the girl's little cheek and whispered. "I'm your papa….I love you…"

The baby cooed happily, her little hands firmly grasping his finger. He smiled bigger than Wendla had ever seen before. He gently handed the baby back to her, his smile still plastered on his face.

"Her name is Margrit…" She sighed happily, looking yet again at the baby in her arms. "Almost like Moritz…not exactly, though…"

He leaned toward her and kissed her forehead softly. "It's a beautiful name." But then something else hit him. "What about godparents?"

Wendla already had this planned out, she looked up from her child for once and looked Natalie right in the eyes. "I'd like Natalie and Henry to do it."

The two of them just shared a quick glance of insecurity. "You want _us_?" Natalie asked her.

"Well, yes! You're practically my sister!" Wendla said happily. "I trust you."

"I mean…wow…" Natalie sort of giggled awkwardly. "Yeah. We'll do it….But on one condition." She glared over at Melchior and Henry, and they already knew what she meant.

"Look, I'm sorry…" Henry started, trying to appease his girlfriend. "I mean, yeah…I'd be upset too if my best friend died." He looked over at Natalie, smiling. She knew she was his best friend. He honestly had no idea what he would do if Natalie died…_I'd pull a Romeo and Juliet stunt…_ he thought, completely dead serious.

"And I shouldn't have beat you…" Melchior apologized as well. "I didn't know what it was like to be in your position, your love was being threatened and hurt. I would do the same for Wendla." His eyes gently made their way to Natalie. He moved a bit closer to her and looked her straight in the eyes. "And I had no right to do that to you. I'm sorry…It's just…when I saw Wendla with him, she was happy…I didn't want to lose her too…So I took it a bit too far…I hope you'll forgive me."

It took her a moment to respond. Everything was so sudden for her. Was she supposed to forgive the boy who put her and her cousin through so much pain and confusion and doubt? She didn't think so…But she knew that she had to resolve this whole mess.

"Yeah…I guess…"

He smiled and just mumbled, "Thank you…"

"So now what?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what do we do next? Baby's born and we all made up…what happens after this?"

She looked around to all of them, who just shrugged. Wendla, still holding Margrit on her hospital bed piped up quietly, "I guess we'll just wait and see…"

* * *

It had been three weeks since Margrit was born. Melchior decided not to fly off to Germany. He was staying with Natalie again, although it was tough trying to convince Dan to let him stay. He was currently trying to find the couple an apartment not too far from the Goodman's house.

Wendla had been raising Margrit, with the help of Dan, the experienced parent in the household. She couldn't believe how far she came. She remembered that night in the hayloft with Melchior…it was beautiful…She remembered how terrified she was. She remembered how gently he touched her. Then everything changed and she was sent away. She remembered meeting Natalie for the first time, how much they hated each other. Now they were practically sisters. She remembered how ashamed she was for having a baby. Now she loved it. She was a different girl…

She sat at home one day, feeding Margrit on the couch. She was just getting used to breastfeeding the baby by now when Natalie and Henry walked in, smiling as usual…until they saw Wendla.

"Oh my God!" Henry shouted, covering his eyes. "Warn me next time you take your shirt off!"

"What?" Natalie teased him. "It's not like you haven't seen a girl's breasts before." He rolled his eyes at her as she playfully pushed him.

Wendla giggled and helped the baby to finish, covering herself up once again. "I'm sorry…but she's been very hungry lately…"

"It's ok…She's a baby. It's the only way she gets fed. He's just squeamish." Natalie said, pointing to a still-blushing Henry, who sat on the couch pretending to read a magazine to get out of the awkward situation.

"Can you hold her for a second? I have to go to the bathroom…"

Natalie nodded as Wendla gently placed the baby into her arms. She was possibly the tiniest little thing she had ever seen before. She gently rocked her back and forth. She was adorable…

She carefully brought Margrit over to Henry, who hadn't really seen her much. "Say hi to your Uncle Henry…" she whispered, handing the baby over to him.

"She looks just like Wendla…" he mused as the baby's big brown eyes examined him carefully.

"I know…she's so cute…" She sat next to him, cuddling closer. She sort of took a second before blurting, "We should have kids."

"Not now! Your dad would kill me…Literally."

She rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly. "No not now! Not with my life…Eventually…"

"When we're married." He said proudly, kissing her quickly.

"Who says we're getting married?"

"It's implied…"

But before she could respond, there was a knock at the door. She groaned and angrily got up to answer it. They never had visitors anyway. If this was another stupid Girl Scout, she was slamming the door in her face. But as she opened it, she saw that it was anything but a Girl Scout. It was a woman around her father's age, maybe older. She wore a long dress, her hair neatly done up. She didn't smile or anything. She just stood there.

"Um…can I help you?" Natalie asked, looking over at Henry, who quickly ran towards her.

"Yes. I'm here for Wendla Bergman. I'm her mother."

Before anyone could say anything else, Wendla emerged back into the room looking for her baby. "Oh! There you are!" she smiled, finding Margrit in Henry's arms. "I missed….Mama." Her eyes flew straight to her mother's unmoving face.

"Is that the child?" Frau Bergman asked, still glaring at her daughter.

"Yes…This is Margrit." She looked down at the baby, trying to avoid her mother.

"Well, let's go then…" She grabbed onto Wendla's hand, causing her to give the baby to Natalie before she dropped it.

"No!" Wendla pulled her hand from her mother's grip. "I'm not going! What about my baby? What about Melchi?"

"Wendla, I sent you here to have the child, not raise it. Maybe by the time we get back, everyone would've forgotten about it."

She shook her head in disbelief. "This is all about you. What about me, Mama? What about my baby? She needs me! Mama!"

Frau Bergman seemed to get rather angry with her daughter. "You want to go ruin your reputation with this child? Do you want to humiliate me more? Where will you stay? Who will take you in?"

"We will…" Natalie piped up, butting into the conversation.

"You will? You'll take on the burden of this…disgraceful child of mine?"

"Yeah…and she's not a disgrace. There's nothing wrong with her."

Frau Bergman hated to admit it, but she was sort of glad someone was taking this burden away from her. She didn't have to deal with the humility and that disgrace anymore. And Wendla seemed to be happy here…

"Fine. Keep her then. As for you, Wendla…behave. And do not get yourself into trouble."

And as if that were a proper goodbye, she just left, glad she didn't have anything to do with this out of wedlock child anymore. Wendla looked a bit upset as soon as they closed the door.

"She didn't even say hello…She hates me…"

"Hey…" Natalie handed Margrit to Henry again, going to hug her cousin. "No she doesn't. A mother can't hate her daughter…And I know that sounds impossible…trust me. But she only wanted what's best."

"So she sent me away?"

"She sent you here. Where people love you and care about you."

Wendla sniffled, wiping the tears that began to fall from her eyes. "True…But, I just wanted to make her so happy…"

"It's ok…Now you have someone else to make happy. Someone who'll accept it." She gestured for Henry to bring the baby over to Wendla. He gently placed her in her mother's arms, letting her look at her for a moment.

"You're right." she smiled at her daughter. "Thank you. For everything."

They hugged again, smiles on both of their faces. "No…thank_ you._"

And they noticed, when they were happy like this…everything bad was gone.

All the pain, the sorrow, the hurt was all left behind.

**A/N: Look! The title! Lol…**

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